Fortress Of Good Fortune

Today is JFK's 100th birthday. A good time to reflect on far we've come...and fallen.

The Kennedy Library is honoring the Centennial all year:



Warner Brothers' film PT 109 was unique in that its tale of a President's wartime heroics was released while the President was occupying the Oval Office. Released in 1963, JFK was still with us and had a say in casting Cliff Robertson as himself. He was wary of some teen idol getting the part! ;) A solid cast (Ty Hardin, James Gregory, and Robert Culp) back up Robertson in an inspiring tale of a man's leadership and refusal to give up in what appeared to be hopeless circumstances.

One telling scene late in the film shows a crewman apologizing for 'blowing his top' while things were looking grim and Lieutenant Kennedy assuring him that he wanted men around him who would speak their minds, which carried over into the White House. His brother Bobby was usually on the same page but spoke his mind when he thought JFK needed to hear it, and other close friends/staffers did the same. Imagine a President welcoming opposing views!



This movie will make your hair stand on end. We came close, very close. JFK had to fight his own generals throughout his Administration but never more than during the Cuban Missile Crisis. They wanted to strike at the missiles in Cuba or just go straight for Moscow. JFK did consider knocking out the missiles in Cuba but knew things would escalate, so did his best to find another way. He stared down into the nuclear abyss and got us out to the other side unscathed.



After this crisis, JFK worked to move toward a detente with Khrushchev, believing that the alternative of continued Cold War confrontations was far too dangerous to continue.

P.S. General Curtis LeMay (USAF) ("Those damned Kennedys!") was satirized in Dr. Strangelove (1964).

Argh, word is that the Wonder Woman movie is as bad as BvS (http://movieweb.com/wonder-woman-movie-insider-review-disaster-mess/), but I'm still willing to wait to see for myself. Would I be surprised if the movie stunk? Hell, no, considering the DCEU's movie track record, but I'm still a bit wary of 'insider' leaks. Could be someone eager to declare another DC disaster? Even with all the red flags on BvS, I still went to see for myself first before judging. And, yes, it was a slogfest, but Diana has beaten long odds before!

Hola, my friends! If anyone can break the DCEU's lousy track record, it'll probably be the Amazing Amazon! :)

Happy Valentine's Day, my friends! May your day be a joyous one. :)

Whoops, gotta go get some breakfast. I'll be going to the early showing of Lego Batman with some friends, and then we'll be visiting my sister as she recovers from surgery at home. Enjoy your day! Review to come. ;)

Anyone getting excited? :)

I'm guest-hosting over on vintage_ads for the one day event, the Korean War. There are some good ads over there if you want to take a look. :)

Today is the 66th anniversary of the start of the war on June 25, 1950.

Veterans of the Korean War in general and of this battle in particular said this movie was very accurate in its depiction of fighting in Korea. My father said that to me when we watched this film years ago. He served in Company B, 32nd Infantry.

Okay, Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice is finally here! I plan on going next week on Bargain Day to see this foundation of the DCCU. I chose a profile icon to celebrate Clark and Bruce, even though they probably won't say a civil word to each other in the entire movie. I'll probably replace it with a Wonder Woman icon soon, as she is emerging as the best thing in this film. Wouldn't it be a kick if a Wondy movie actually saved DC's bacon after they took 76 years to present her on the big screen in a live-action flick?

I won't be reading any reviews until Tuesday, but go ahead and write them! I plan on checking back after I've written my own. Hopefully this movie will be better than we think. Huzzah for the World's Finest! :)

In honor of our boys, take a walk down Memory Lane or enjoy the fun for the first time with World's Finest #289. It's canon, folks! ;)

It is supreme irony that an industry that exists to entertain can't make their showcase awards show diverting. I guess it's the nature of the beast. Awful riffing by actors who can't improvise without a script to save their lives (once in awhile you get an exception), tedious 'comedy' sketches, song-and-dance numbers thrown in...you get the picture. And speeches thanking everyone in the universe isn't too exciting, though this year they tried to speed it up by a crawl screen giving us the particulars for each speech so that the recipient could be quicker. Even with all that, the darned thing ended at 12:05 A.M. EST. Yeesh!

Here's a thought: give us the categories we want (Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Actress). Throw in Best Director and Original/Adapted Screenplay and Best Costume Design. The rest? Have them join that separate Oscar night. I really don't care about Sound Mixing and whatever. And cut the songs and the painfully unfunny bits. I know, dreaming, right? An awards show that's under two hours? Blasphemy!

I was pleased to catch glimpses of Christian Bale since he was up for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, though I didn't think he'd win. The heavy favorite was Sly Stallone for Creed, so it was a pleasant surprise when Mark Rylance won for his role in Bridge Of Spies. I wanted BoS to get recognition, and they snagged a major prize. Rylance was exceptional as Rudolf Abel, captured Soviet spy. He and Tom Hanks had great chemistry together. :)

Weird that Mad Max was even nominated for Best Picture. SF movies generally are not. They cleaned up in the technical categories, though. A shame that Cinderella didn't win for Best Costume Design or Bridge Of Spies for Best Set Design. Cinderella's ball gown alone was worth the price of admission! :) And that Berlin Wall set was pretty fantastic in BoS.

I think Chris Rock would have been better served to confine his #OscarsSoWhite comments to his opening monologue. Sometimes less is more.

Spotlight won for Best Picture. Even though it happened in my backyard, I haven't seen it yet. I'll probably catch it when it gets to TV.

Cute to see the kid actor trying to get a better look at the Star Wars droids on-stage. Sometimes even a kid actor is just a kid! :)

Christian isn't doing too badly for himself: three Oscar nominations and one win. Some Hollywood greats got neither!

Some great gowns, Christian looked great, and a few surprises. I drifted in and out of sleep for the latter two hours but saw the highlights. Another Oscars in the books. *yawn*

I went with my sister to see Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens yesterday, and here’s my review. If you don’t want a review with spoilers, skip reading behind the cut.

I had no expectations of this film. Did it live up to the hype? Of course not! No film could, but it wasn’t a bomb, either.

I give this film a solid B, and would be tempted to bump it up to a B+ because of the shining presence of Harrison Ford as Han Solo. :)

Was I entertained? Yes.

Was I disappointed? Yes.

( MAJOR spoilers )

For those wanting my recommendation without spoilers, if you’re a Star Wars fan, go see this film. If you’re a Han Solo fan, definitely go see this film. There is new stuff mixed with old (a little too much repeating of Episode IV, IMO) but this movie is a darned sight better than the prequel trilogy.

Just came back from seeing Jurassic World and so here’s a review! :)

Is it me or is it the height of dumbassery to trek out to a park where if the animals get loose, you’re their snacks?

( Spoilers aplenty for all four films )

I just saw Avengers 2: Age Of Ultron, and am squeeing a little. :) Was it as good as the original Avengers movie? No, but the only sequel I’ve ever seen that surpassed the original was The Empire Strikes Back, so that’s a tough act to follow.

I can say that the movie was enjoyable and had some squee-worthy scenes. The original film was near-perfection in how it all came together, but even near-perfection has to be organic. You can assemble the pieces but it’s in the stars whether or not they form that level of quality. The first Woodstock Festival is a perfect example. The subsequent festivals were duds because you can’t catch lightning in a bottle twice.

So, if you’d like to find out my impressions, read on!

( Here be spoilers!!! )