I’m participating in the A-Z Blog Challenge. You can find the big list of participants by Googling. Each blog has a different theme. I’m doing a favorite movie of mine that starts with the days letter each day, but taking off on Sundays with a regular Kerry nonsense post.

Elizabethtown, 2005

Here’s an Elizabethtown plot description from IMDB:

After causing a loss of almost one billion dollars in his company, the shoe designer Drew Baylor decides to commit suicide. However, in the exact moment of his act of despair, he receives a phone call from his sister telling him that his beloved father had just died in Elizabethtown, and he should bring him back since his mother had problem with the relatives of his father. He travels in an empty red eye flight and meets the attendant Claire Colburn, who changes his view and perspective of life.

Claire is the character that coined the term “manic pixie dreamgirl.” I love her. This movie is so special. It’s criminally underrated and one of Cameron Crowe’s best. And being a Crowe film, the music is fantastic. There were two soundtracks, plus the score album. It’s not where I discovered the musician Ryan Adams, but where I fell in love with him.

I just put the movie on. I probably won’t do that with most of the films I’m reviewing (they’re not really reviews because they’re definitely my favorites), but this one is that special.

I’m participating in the A-Z Blog Challenge. You can find the big list of participants by Googling. Each blog has a different theme. I’m doing a favorite movie of mine that starts with the days letter each day, but taking off on Sundays with a regular Kerry nonsense post.

Dumbo, 1941

This film is a product of its era. I enjoyed it as a child and introduced it to my children and still love it despite the racist crows scene. Let’s get that out of the way. In 1942, Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men (THE animators of the studio) included black jive-talking crows what is the turning point of the film. They give Dumbo a “magic feather” to make Dumbo believe he could fly. Yes, it’s completely a stereotype of a way black people can talk and of the magical negro. It’s racist. This is not cool. It has to be called out for what it is and we have to acknowledge it was created by a bunch of white men who should have known better, but did not. In the end, Dumbo loses the feather and believes in himself, buy he wouldn’t have gotten there without the crows. It was a great plot device that 100% could have been done in a thousand different ways.

Moving on. I have to believe the for is based on Barnum and Bailey’s Circus for two reasons: Dumbo opens with the circus leaving “Winter Grounds” in Florida; Ringling Brothers and Bailey’s Circus spent their winters in “Winter Quarters” in Sarasota, Fl. The other reason is that P.T. Barnum owned Jumbo the Elephant. In the beginning, Dumbo is delivered via stork to Mrs. Jumbo. She tells the other elephants she’s naming the baby Jumbo Junior. His ears unfurl and the mean bitchy elephants call him Dumbo. They continue to tease him throughout the movie.

Mrs. Jumbo is separated from Dumbo after she tramples the enclosure because of how Dumbo is treated. Mrs. Jumbo is implied to sing (we don’t see her face) “Baby Mine” and everyone with a heart or any other cries. This song was Oscar-nominated and has been covered several times by wonderful artists such as Alison Krauss, Bonnie Raitt, and Bette Midler. It’s wonderful. I bought the 45” when I was six. “Pink Elephants on Parade” was on the B side and it’s from the kind of scary pink elephants sequence in the film that is straight out of a drug-filled dream. Good song though.

And that is Dumbo.

I’m participating in the A-Z Blog Challenge. You can find the big list of participants by Googling. Each blog has a different theme. I’m doing a favorite movie of mine that starts with the days letter each day, but taking off on Sundays with a regular Kerry nonsense post.

Catch me if You Can, 2002

This movie answers the question “what would it be like if Leonardo DiCaprio was devilishly handsome, made a lot of money, and was a hit with the ladies?”

I’m serious. Catch Me if You Can is based on the autobiography of Frank Abagnale, who claims that before his 19th birthday, he successfully performed cons worth millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor, and a Louisiana parish prosecutor. Abagnale’s claims are disputed, but hey, they make for one heckuva story. Abagnale went on to work with the FBI on check fraud detection, then started his own company that advised companies on keeping documents secure and he’s, still around, now working in cybercrime.

Tom Hanks plays FBI agent Carl Hanratty, who spends two or three years (it’s not stated how long) attempting to catch Frank. I consider this a Christmas movie because there are several Christmas scenes — twice, Frank calls Carl on Christmas Eve because he says he has no one else to call on Christmas. Later, Frank is finally arrested on his mother’s snowy lawn while his step-siblings celebrate Christmas, unaware of what’s going on outside.

Frank is a conman who is impossible to dislike. You’re rooting for him to pull off these crazy schemes and you feel for him because of the setup in the beginning with his family breaking up. At Christmas.

This might be my favorite DiCaprio film.

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I’m participating in the A-Z Blog Challenge. You can find the big list of participants by Googling. Each blog has a different theme. I’m doing a favorite movie of mine that starts with the days letter each day, but taking off on Sundays with a regular Kerry nonsense post.

The Blues Brothers, 1980

Obviously. This movie will change your life. Is it a comedy? Yes. Is it musical? Yes. Is it star-studded? The star-sturddiest!

The plot: Elwood Blue picks up “Joliet” Jake Blues from prison and they visit the orphanage where they grew up. “The Penguin”(head nun) tells the guys that the Archdiocese will shut down the place if $5000 in back property taxes aren’t paid within 11 days. The guys say they will get her the money and she tells them it can’t be money from committing a crime. Our boys are now on a Mission from God.

Jake and Elwood stop by James Brown’s church and Jake “sees the light” and tells Elwood they have to get their old blues band together to play shows to earn the money. This puts us on our journey where we meet the best ensemble of any film ever. Here’s the list:

James Brown as the Reverend Cleophus James.

Cab Calloway, as Curtis, who helps with advertising and performs “Minnie the Moocher.”

Ray Charles as the blind instrument dealer. During this cameo, he performs “Shake a Tail Feather.”

Aretha Franklin as Mrs. Murphy, the wife of Matt Murphy, who performs “Think” in the best part of the movie.

My space mom, Carrie Fisher, as the mystery woman who tries to kill Jake several times. She turns out to be Jake’s fiancé.

John Candy as Burton Mercer, Jake’s parole officer.

John Lee Hooker as Street Slim, who sings “Boom Boom” on Maxwell Street. Man, he was good.

Steve Lawrence as Maury Sline, the agent who booked the Blues Brothers before Jake’s stint in jail.

Twiggy as the woman who flirts with Elwood in the gas station.

Frank Oz as the corrections officer.

Steven Spielberg as the Cook County Assessor.

Joe Walsh as a prison inmate.

Paul Reubens (Peewee Herman) as a waiter.

Chaka Khan as the choir soloist.

Whew, that’s a lot of great people.

I’m not going to go over the absolutely insane details, but I will give you the best quotes, most of which I’ve committed to memory. It’s an incredibly quotable movie and I love it. Some quotes will have a little context, some not. In no order, because it’s my blog. I’m not posting clips, but just watch the “Bob’s Country Bunker” scene on YouTube where the band pretends to be a country band called The Good Old Boys. You won’t be sorry. Time for the quotes!

Elwood: Don’t worry, they won’t catch us — we’re on a mission from God.

Elwood: It’s a hundred and six miles to Chicago, we’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it.

Mrs. Murphy: Help you boys?
Elwood: You got any white bread?
Mrs. Murphy: Yes.
Elwood: I’ll have some toasted white bread please.
Mrs. Murphy: You want butter or jam on that toast, honey?
Elwood: No ma’am, dry.
Jake: Got any fried chicken?
Mrs. Murphy: Best damn chicken in the state.
Jake: Bring me four fried chickens and a Coke.
Mrs. Murphy: You want chicken wings or chicken legs?
Jake: Four fried chickens and a Coke.
Elwood: And some dry white toast please.
Mrs. Murphy: Y’all want anything to drink with that?
Elwood: No, ma’am.
Jake: A Coke.
Mrs. Murphy: Be up in a minute.
Mrs. Murphy: We got two honkies out there dressed like Hasidic diamond merchants.
Matt “Guitar” Murphy: Say what?
Mrs. Murphy: They look like they’re from the CIA or somethin’.
Matt “Guitar” Murphy: What they want to eat?
Mrs. Murphy: The tall one wants white toast, dry, with nothin’ on it.
Matt “Guitar” Murphy: Elwood.
Mrs. Murphy: And the other one wants four whole fried chickens and a Coke.
Matt “Guitar” Murphy: And Jake. Sh*t, the Blues Brothers!

Mrs. Tarantino: Are you the police?
Elwood: No, ma’am. We’re musicians.

Elwood Blues: What kind of music do you usually have here?
Claire: Oh, we got both kinds. We got country and western.

Murph: Tell me a little about this electric piano, Ray.
Ray: Ah, you have a good eye, my man. That’s the best in the city Chicago.
Jake: How much?
Ray: 2000 bucks and it’s yours. You can take it home with you. As a matter of fact, I’ll throw in the black keys for free.

Elwood: This is glue. Strong stuff. (I say this a lot)

[as the Blues Brothers are trying to haggle the price of a piano, a little boy is in the back trying to steal a guitar. Suddenly, Ray whips out a gun and — despite being blind — nearly misses hitting the boy]
Ray: Now, go on! Get!
[the little boy scurries away]
Ray: [sadly] Breaks my heart to see a boy that young goin’ bad.

And my favorite — from the Queen, Aretha, herself:

Matt Murphy: Ah. Don’t get riled, sugar.
Mrs. Murphy: Don’t you “Don’t get riled, sugar” me! You ain’t goin’ back on the road no more, and you ain’t playin’ them ol’ two-bit sleazy dives. You’re livin’ with me now, and you not gonna go slidin’ around witcho ol’ white hoodlum friends.
Matt Murphy: But babes, this is Jake and Elwood, the Blues Brothers!
Mrs. Murphy: The Blues Brothers? Shit! They still owe you money, fool.
Jake: Ma’am, would it make you feel any better if you knew that what we’re asking Matt here to do is a holy thing?
Elwood: You see, we’re on a mission from God.
Mrs. Murphy: Don’t you blaspheme in here. Don’t you blaspheme in here! This is my man, this is my restaurant, and you two are just gonna walk right out that door without your dry white toast, without your four fried chickens, and without Matt “Guitar” Murphy!

And that’s right before she sings “Think.”

AT&T, I need y’all to get on this.

In case you missed the announcement yesterday, I’m participating in the A-Z Blog Challenge. You can find the big list of participants by Googling. Each blog has a different theme. I’m doing a favorite movie of mine that starts with the days letter each day, but taking off on Sundays with a regular Kerry nonsense post.

All the President’s Men is in my top ten list of movies. It’s a masterpiece from 1976 and features Redford and Hoffman as journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein reporting on the Watergate break-in and cover-up by Richard Nixon and his “plumbers.”

The rights to the story were purchased by Robert Redford before the book even came out. Bedford had followed the reporting in The Washington Post from the beginning. That is wild. The film mostly stays true to the story. The biggest addition to the film is the phrase “follow the money,” which has become huge in the lexicon of law and business. But it was true — Woodward and Bernstein found much of what they uncovered by tracing payments to different people.

What I love about All the President’s Men (and there are tons of things) is the dedication by the filmmakers. The set is practically an exact replica of The Washington Post newsroom, down to the glass bricks, working phones, and fax machines. It’s the best use of office noise in all of film. The typewriters sound like bullets, intentionally. There is such a realness of the office and the film captures the earnestness of the reporters. Bedford and Hoffman actually shadowed Woodward and Bernstein at the paper, which is why their performances are so convincing. They became the reporters.

Redford and Hoffman bring it. They’re amazing. You believe every minute of their investigation. You also believe the other characters. Jason Robards IS Ben Bradlee.

One of my favorite quotes in the film sum it up perfectly — how the investigation started and what the newspaper was facing:

In a meeting, an editor mentions that he’d been asked, “If [Watergate is] so goddamn important, who in the hell are Woodward and Bernstein?” Another editor played by John McMartin explains to Ben Bradlee (Jason Robards) that Watergate is a dangerous story, especially if Woodward and Bernstein get it wrong. He points out that there are 2000 reporters in their town, and only 5 of them are covering Watergate. “Where did the Washington Post suddenly get the monopoly on wisdom? Why would the Republicans do it? I don’t believe the story. It doesn’t make sense,” he insists.

At the end if the film, Woodward and Bernstein are still typing away as Nixon’s second inauguration is playing on tv behind them. Dedicated journalists at work. Of course, in real life, their work caused Congress to investigate the break-in of the DNC. The final words on the screen in the movie are from the teletype machine that Nixon resigned and Gerald Ford would become president.

So that was A. Come back tomorrow for B.

So, I’ve joined the A-Z Blog Challenge. I’ll be blogging in the theme everyday except Subdays, which will be my foolishness.

What’s the challenge? I’m going to review a favorite movie of mine starting with the day’s letter. Tomorrow starts the first day, with A. No idea what I’m picking.

I liked this challenge for some of the more interesting prompts. I also like daily prompts that force me to think. I might find one for April, I guess you’ll have to come back tomorrow to see.

In order: Tin Roof, Mint Chocolate Chip, and Cookies Over Texas by HEB.

I love fall and I love Christmastime. I love boots and scarves. I love fireplaces and decorating my mantel for both seasons. I love warm soups and hearty meals. Gumbo and chicken and dumplings weather. I love sweaters. I love Christmas music and looking at neighborhood Christmas lights. Yeah, all of that.