Tag Archives: Movies

Dec 26 2015
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Full Moon on Christmas Day: Part II

Christmas Present and Christmas Future

“Your life will be a great and continuous unfolding. You will come to know things that can only be known with the wisdom of age and the grace of years. Most of those things will have to do with forgiveness.” — Cheryl Strayed

This is Part II of a personal essay on the holidays. The subject of Part I was pre-holiday musings and reminiscing about childhood Christmas celebrations past. I’m grateful to my parents for their gifts to me, most importantly their love, nurturing, and support and for the delight I experienced on Christmas morning as a child when I saw the decorated tree and gift-wrapped presents.

Part II is also recognition that things change; we experience loss in our life as we age. Loved ones leave us, others die, and some traditions are more difficult to sustain.  People move across country, move on from childhood to adulthood, and sometimes family members and loved ones create chasms too difficult to bridge. Continue reading →

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Nov 29 2015
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Waxing Sentimental

Nostalgia: (n.) a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.

Tomorrow, Monday, November 30th is Cyber Monday. It’s the online equivalent of Black Friday, the Monday following Thanksgiving when people return to work and shop online and take advantage of deep discounts and promotions. In late November 2005, The New York Times reported: “The name Cyber Monday grew out of the observation that millions of otherwise productive working Americans, fresh off a Thanksgiving weekend of window shopping, were returning to high-speed Internet connections at work Monday and buying what they liked.” Continue reading →

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Oct 05 2015
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Random Topics

Historical Smoking, Coffee Naps, and Blog Writing & Babysitting

As a blogger, I mine my daily life for topics to write about. I set out to find something timely and meaningful, something that my readers can relate to, a universal message or lesson to discover in my lived experience. Another option is to choose a subject from the news of the day to comment on, however sometimes current events are tragically overwhelming, as in the gun violence and murders this week at a community college in Oregon, or the suicide of loved LGBTQ activist-youth who lost his battle with depression right here in Madison. In these cases I need time to sit with my feelings and formulate my thoughts before putting fingers to keyboard. Continue reading →

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Sep 06 2015
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The Pleasures (and Lessons) of a Staycation

“A vacation that is spent at one’s home enjoying all that home and one’s home environs have to offer.”— Urban Dictionary

“You don’t have to go far to travel.” — Me

It’s that time of year again when September arrives and I extend the Labor Day holiday by taking my annual Staycation. While students return to school after their families unpack from vacation and pack those back-to-school backpacks full of brand new school supplies, I take a break from my day-to-day work routines and make my “to-do only if I want to lists.”   Continue reading →

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Apr 25 2015
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2015 WI Film Festival Fandom (and More!)

Spring break is now behind us. I hope everyone is refreshed and ready to enjoy both work and play, and the season ahead. We’ve made it through another Wisconsin winter — though there was more light snow and cold temps this week (welcome to Wisconsin!).  Students took a break from their day-to-day routines of books and laptops, lectures and classrooms while working folks and others have been to that sunny beach and returned home to see the trees bud and flowers bloom. Thousands of others, including me, have emerged from darkened movie theaters after eight days and more than 150 films during the 17th Annual Wisconsin Film Festival.  Continue reading →

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Jan 04 2015
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A Filmgoer’s Guide to the Best Films of 2014

“You know how everyone’s saying ‘seize the moment’? I don’t know, I’m kind of thinking it’s the other way around, you know, like the moment seizes us.”— The character, Nicole, from the film Boyhood.

“There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope.” — Stephen Hawking from The Theory of Everything.

First, as a filmgoer, I want to acknowledge that 2014 has been a good year for movies.  For my filmgoing preferences, independent films rose to the top of the list of the best films of the year.  It was also difficult to limit myself to ten best films, so you’ll notice my honorable mention list is extensive. There were also a number of films that have not premiered yet in Madison, or I missed them in their limited runs.  Some of those films may have risen to the top ten. Lastly, I wanted to recognize documentaries separately from narrative films. Continue reading →

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Sep 28 2014
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A Triptych of Films about Family Love

“Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.” — David Ogden Stiers

During the past week, I’ve seen three films, Love Is Strange, This Is Where I Leave You, and The Skeleton Twins.  What do a story about gay partners who marry after 40 years together and then lose their income and home, a family sitting Shiva after the death of their father and husband, and twins estranged for ten years who reunite after one of them attempts suicide, all have in common? What is the familiar theme? Quite simply, like David Ogden Stiers quote it’s family and, “…no one gets left behind or forgotten.” Continue reading →

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Jul 13 2014
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A Tribute to Life Itself

For his love of movies— for his love of life itself

“It would not be a stretch to say that Mr. Ebert was the best-known film reviewer of his generation, and one of the most trusted. The force and grace of his opinions propelled film criticism into the mainstream of American culture. Not only did he advise moviegoers about what to see, but also how to think about what they saw.” —New York Times, obit Continue reading →

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Jul 04 2014
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Remember: Childhood July 4th Celebrations

Long ago, far away
Life was clear
Close your eyes*

Holidays are like mile markers on a journey. We are able to look back to see how far we’ve traveled and where we’ve been simply my reflecting on where we were a year ago on this day. If we look further back, we can return to holiday celebrations of our childhood which for some of us are pleasant memories of simpler times. The rituals and traditions associated with holidays can evoke body memories sparked by smells, sounds, sights, tastes, and touch. For the Fourth of July, it’s the smell of sulfur from lighting sparklers, the sounds and sight of fireworks exploding in brilliant color in the night sky, the taste of hot dogs, ice cream and soda pop and the drum beats of marching bands echoing and rumbling in one’s body. Continue reading →

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Jun 28 2014
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Rom Com Love Bomb

A Filmgoer’s Guide to Summer’s Romantic Comedies

Summertime is here and as expressed in the song from the opera, Porgy and Bess, by George Gershwin with lyrics by DuBose Heyward, “Summertime, and the livin is easy.”  For me as a filmgoer, summertime means afternoon matinees in darkened, air-conditioned movie theaters watching romantic comedies and three Kleenex movies. Some movie fans, especially the young and male, prefer action blockbusters that transport them from the reality of their daily grind, and takes them on a fantasy vacation.  Romantic comedies, which are often disparagingly referred to as “chick flicks,” feel  more like going to a summer festival or fair and enjoying all the carnival confections.  Continue reading →

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