Dear Jodie - M is for The Man From Snowy River

Dear Jodie,

I watched The Man From Snowy River last week for the very first time, and was quite taken with parts of it. It has many qualities of the American Western, but much more subtle and far less shoot-em-up.

The beautiful shots of the horses evoked the poetry of Banjo Paterson.  I really do enjoy the poetry of Banjo Paterson. His poems tell the story of a land better than any I've ever read anywhere about any place. 

They are, in a word, evocative!

Some of the actors I am familiar with. I’ll get to Kirk Douglas in a second. I know the lovely, passionate Sigrid Thornton from the mini-series “All The Rivers Run,” a work that almost single-handedly put my mother and sister on a plane to Melbourne.

I enjoyed her work in this very much, or maybe I just have a crush on her. I’m also familiar with Jack Thompson who played Clancy (of the Overflow). I thought he had just the right mix of mountain man and compassion for the boy about to become a man.

I had not seen Tom Burlinson before. His Jim Craig had some nice notes, from the uncertain youth to The Man From Snowy River capable of taming a herd of wild horses (brambies). I wish he could have found a more tender melody in the romance.

What can I say about Kirk Douglas? He’s never been one of my favorite actors, but I thought he was fine in this, at least as Harrison. As Spur . . . well, let me just say that I had trouble getting past the movie star teeth.  And when you give Kirk Douglas a wooden leg and scraggy beard, he'll chew up the scenery.

And did.

The acting would win no Oscars, true, but I love the sweep of the movie.  Some of the shots of the Australian landscape were spectacular, particularly the aerial shots of the horses!

I want to board a plane to the land down under!

I give it 6 out of 10.

I'm curious about the relationship you choose to focus on and how you rate it.

Read Jodie's review here!

Check out our Facebook page, Dear Rocky Dear Jodie: TheActor and the Psychologist At The Movies.

I take back what I said earlier.  Any actor who signs an autograph for me is a favorite.  :-)

 

Dear Jodie - L is for Lady and the Tramp

Dear Jodie,

I DID NOT see Lady and the Tramp in its original release, LOL, but my parents took me to see it on the big screen in the early 1960's.

My earliest memories of romance center around the famous spaghetti noodle scene where Miss Lady and Tramp take on the same noodle and wind up in a kiss.  Freaking genius for animation in 1955, and, of course, hidden gentleman that he is, Tramp insists that Miss Lady have the last meatball. 

Ahhhhhh!  Sigh!

From that day, I've always thought one element of romance consists of a moonlit dinner and bashfulness.

And OH, the amazing cast of characters! Jim Dear and Darling.  Jock and Trusty.  My favorite line in the movie centers around Jock and Trusty.  The old hound sounding like he's from the great state of Kentucky, stated many times that he doesn't reckon whether he's mentioned the sayings of his granddaddy "Old Reliable," to which at one point Jock replies with regret in the Scot accent, "Aye, lad, you have.  Frequently!"

And I loved every time Trusty sighs, "Ahhhhhh, Miss Laaaaady."

I'm a sentimental schlock, Jodie!  It is true.

The adult me, though, melts to the dulcet stylings of the amazing Peggy Lee when she sultries (I know there is no such word) out, "He's a Tramp."  Most folks wouldn't realize (I sure-as-hell didn't until recently) that Peggy Lee also voiced the Siamese cats AND Darling.

I won't get another chance during the blog challenge, so I will do it here.  Thurl Ravenscroft voiced Al the Alligator and was a member of the dog chorus!

He is better known for having sung "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" in the animated classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."  He is best known as the voice for decades of Tony the Tiger in the Sugar Frosted Flakes commercials.  He's "GURRRREATTTT!!!" And, Jodie, if you've ever been to a Disney theme park, you have heard his amazing bass voice.  He is everywhere.

9 out of 10, Jodie!  What did you think?

Read Jodie's review here!

Check out our Facebook page Dear Rocky Dear Jodie: The Actor and The Psychologist At The Movies!  Thanks so much!

Dear Jodie - K is for The Karate Kid

Dear Jodie,

So many scenes in this wonderful movie stirred my emotions.  The final victory scene was the most exhilarating.

The most touching for me, though was Mr. Miyagi's drunken lament for his lost wife and child.  Here, more than any other moment, I think, sealed the relationship between Daniel-san and Mr. Miyagi. 

Here, Daniel-san understood.  So, too, did Mr. Miyagi.

This scene struck me a little harder than it might have otherwise because I grew up with two kids whose parents were confined to internment camps beginning in 1942, as had Mr. Miyagi's wife.  My friend's parents never spoke of it, nor was it more than a passing reference in history class, until my high school American history teacher spoke of it in detail as one of the darker sides of American history.

But that's by the way.

The rest of Daniel-san's training contributed to his growth, wax-on-wax-off, paint the fence, sand the floor, but the moment when Daniel understood the pain of an old man, and the old man saw that realization in the eyes of his student completed the molding of their relationship.

At least to my mind.

Daniel's relationship with Ali was nice, and part of me wishes they had taken it deeper, but on reflection, that might have taken away from the main story of Daniel-san and Mr. Miyagi.

Are you looking at this relationship too, Jodie?

This is the tale of an underdog, and I love those stories. The Karate Kid is one of the better ones because it beautifully doubles as a coming of age story.

9 out of 10 for me! Every time I watch it, I am moved in so many ways!

The director John G. Avildsen directed another movie we take on a little later in the month! One made about eight years prior. You can't read it, but the picture below was actually autographed to me, and gives a hint.

I wonder how many of our wonderful readers will guess!

Another bit of trivia . . . 

Larry B. Scott who played the role of Jerry in The Karate Kid went on to star in a TV show called Super Force.  I had a nice guest spot in an episode of Super Force and appeared in a scene with him. 

The title of the episode was "Ghost in the Machine."

Check out Jodie's review here!

Check out our Facebook page Dear Rocky Dear Jodie: The Actor and The Psychologist At The Movies.  If you like what we're doing, please "Like" our page.  :-)

Dear Jodie - J is for Juno

Dear Jodie,

A number of critics called Juno one of the best movies of 2007.  My favorite critic, the late Roger Ebert, called it the best.  I certainly didn't see a movie that year I enjoyed more, hell I didn't see a movie I enjoyed as much.

I am a bit eccentric in that when I really enjoy a movie in the cinema, I go back to see it a time or two.  I saw Juno five times on the big screen . . . well, maybe more than that.

Ellen Page just kicks it as Juno MacGuff, creating a unique character, and one I loved the moment she hit the screen.  That love deepened over the rest of the movie.

As a writer as well, I have to mention Diablo Cody, the amazing screenwriter of Juno, because this is one of those movies that owes a great deal to the screenplay. Juno has her own way of speaking that helps define her character and that was largely the screenwriter.  Seriously, her screenplay was special.

The character I related to most was Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). When he was on the screen I traveled back in time 40 years. Take away the track team and add a hundred pounds and that could have been me.

And what can I say about Jennifer Garner as Vanessa Loring the adoptive mom. The scene in the mall where she oh-so-delicately and oh-so-desperately tries to make a connection with her yet-to-be-born child just pulled the tears out of my eyes and plastered a near-permanent smile on my face.

Juno has charm and depth, wit and . . . I usually hate this word when applied to movies . . . intelligence. It respects its characters, even loves them. Even the man-child Mark Loring (Jason Batemen) doesn't come across as villainous or evil . . . just a man going through an early mid-life crisis at a really bad time.

Cudos to J. K. Simmons and Allison Janney as Juno's loving dad and step-mom as well!

Great script, insightful acting, and directing that understood the story and the characters.

I LOVE Juno, and give it 9 out of 10.

Read Jodie's amazing review here!

Check out our Facebook page Dear Rocky Dear Jodie: The Actor and the Psychologist at the Movies!

Dear Jodie - I is for It's a Wonderful Life

Dear Jodie,

What can I say about one of my favorite movies? It's a Wonderful Life!  I watch it every Christmas time, and it never fails to renew me and show me that each life counts and that we have no idea how much and in what ways.  So different from our previous movie The Hours.

Certainly George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) had no idea how much his life meant to the world until he thought to end his life that Christmas Eve.

Oh, then here comes Clarence, beautifully portrayed by the amazing Henry Travers to show George just how important a life can be and how the smallest of actions can have far ranging effects.

And look at the friends who come to help George when he finds himself in trouble!

Yes, I’m gushing!  I can only gush over this one.

I do want to tell a story I heard Jimmy Stewart tell in an interview.  Because of his military service, It’s A Wonderful Life was his first film in five years.  He stood in the conference ready to unload on Mr. Potter about being a "warped and frustrated old man" and suffered a confidence crisis.

Lionel Barrymore (who played Mr. Potter) called him over and gave him what for about being an actor finishing his tirade with, “Now stand up there and let me have it!”

And the scene rocked.  You could see the anger and the tears in Jimmy Stewart’s face and eyes.

And I positively WEEP when Clarence gets his wings.

This movie is so life affirming and full of the wonderful kind of sentiment and never ventures into sentimentality except at the very end, but by then it earned it.  And, yes, every time I hear a bell ring, I smile.

10 out of 10

How about you, Jodie?

Check out Jodie's review here.

Also check out our Facebook page Dear Rocky Dear Jodie: The Actor and the Psychologist at the Movies.

Dear Jodie - H is for The Hours

Dear Jodie,

I saw The Hours in its initial release and was blown away.  I watched it three times in the movie theater.  Why was I so attracted to a movie about three women and how their experiences revolved around a novel?  One written by the one who could not get the voices out of her head, and who committed suicide so that her husband of nearly 29 years could live his life?  It had to be, I thought, the poor fly unable to avoid the web of the spider.

The novel was Mrs. Dalloway.  The author, Virginia Woolf.

It was more than that.  The performances were more than amazing, and if you would have told me that Nicole Kidman had this kind of performance in her BEFORE this movie, I would not have believed it.  She was brilliant as Virginia Woolf.

Her performance reminded me of my father.

Before my sister was born in 1961, my father spend time in a mental hospital . . . unaffectionately known at the time as an "insane asylum."  As a three year-old I could barely pronounce the name of our car, a Chevrolet, but I damn sure could pronounce the words, "insane asylum." My father's family and neighbors taught me how to pronounce it very well, every day as a matter of fact.  

He later told me of how they used electric shock therapy on him, jolting him with massive amounts of electricity so that he would give them an appropriate response.

At times at two or three in the morning, he would tell me why that was wrong and how it made him feel.  And as a child, I couldn't relate!  I tried, but couldn't grasp it!

Years later, one doctor, a brain surgeon from Houston Texas, found the cause of my father's mental illness, a hereditary brain tumor passed from male to male, that could be seen by looking through the eyes.

My father was always conservative . . . at times, reactionary . . . but he always had compassion for people with mental challenges.  He was the one who taught me that "disease," meant dis … ease, and that mental illness was completely misunderstood.  He was right, way-back-when.

I wonder what might have happened with Virginia Woolf, if we knew then what we know now.

Just some thoughts, and a confession of sorts.  I've never mentioned to you that my father spent time in a mental hospital before, because the phrase "insane asylum" just pops into my mind every time I think about it.  And I don't like that phrase.  Not at all!  It is a cruel term, I think.

I did love the movie, though.  9 out of 10.

Check out Jodie's take here! 

Check out our Facebook page here!

Dear Jodie - G is for Gone With the Wind

Dear Jodie,

How should I feel about Gone With the Wind?  On the one hand it is one of Hollywood’s greatest movies.  On the other, the very making of the movie highlights racial and gender stereotypes, and turns a blind eye to marital rape.

All of that and my parents said that the movie was banned in Memphis for years for using the word “damn.” I haven’t been able to substantiate that.

My favorite movie critic, the late Roger Ebert said that Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) was not a produce of the Civil War, but a product of post flapper America, the precursor to Rosie the Riveter of World War II.

I understand his point.

The most attractive quality of a, sometimes, unsavory character is her indomitable will and determination. Others may give into fear and apathy, but oh, no!  Not Scarlett.

I love that the most rational, clear-thinking character in the whole movie was Mammy beautifully portrayed by Hattie McDaniel. My father had a special place in his heart for both Hattie McDaniel and Mammy. He often said that Mammy was "the only character in the whole damn movie with a lick of sense." 

As Mammy, Ms. McDaniel became the first African American to win an Academy Award.  It took another twenty-four years before Sidney Poitier became the second, winning for Lilies of the Field.

My parents risked taking me to Gone With the Wind in 1961 when I was four.  All I remember from that viewing was the music, which can still move me to emotion, and the burning of Atlanta.

A spectacular sequence, even to this day.

A saying you still hear in the American South from time to time is "Through hell and half of Georgia."

I wonder if . . . never mind.

Vivien Leigh?  Clark Gable?  WOW!

I’ve seen the movie a number of times since 1961, and through several periods of US history.  The farther we move into the future, the more Gone With the Wind is gone with the wind.

It is definitely one of the greatest movies Hollywood ever made.  I think I will remember it that way, chalk it up to an unsavory part of our past, both the Civil War and the era that made the movie and keep looking forward.

I still give it 10 out of 10!

What do you think, Jodie?

Read Jodie's review here!