movieman1957

It depends. I love history and follow politics to a degree. I don't know much about modern music and have a passing knowledge of more current movies. I might do ok.

>Hiya Chris...we are only at 15 yrs around here...It is good to pick and choose those battles...and remember love bears all things...Sometimes discretion is the better part of ...matrimony. Well put. I hope when you hit my mark you will have been as happy as I have been. Even after that long I'm still not sure why she loves me.

Hi Sir Francis: I haven't played "Trivial Pursuit" in a long time. Once when playing someone was reading a question and when they stumbled over a name I not only answered but finished the question. The game came to an abrupt end. Tonight we are going out for a friend's birthday and there is a trivia contest. For once people were happy that I am going with them as they think I will improve their chances. As far as being boring goes. I can't imagine that you would have ever been but beat this one. In my senior year in high school when kids are up for "Most Likely To Succeed" and various other awards I was voted "Most Likely To Be Forgotten."

I bet I'm the only guy in the world with a pet fish with a $500 a day habit. BTW, do you notice that John Agar is showing up a lot in these pictures?

April: I can't find it so here I will post my comments on "The Wings Of Eagles." Real men do cry. It is obvious that Ford loves the Navy and the friendships built in that organization. There is a deep respect among the sailors and even members of the Army that know him. It was an interesting life for Mr. Wead. It is full of stress and accomplishments. Wayne does a fine job in the lead role. It must have been tough playing the physical part of that role. He is at times very personable but mostly with his buddies. He is not always that way with Maureen. I thought that on their reunion in San Francisco he runs the gamut from letting Maureen help him with his legs to a sad plea to get back together. I didn't find it that warm as it was matter-of-fact. Maureen was wonderful in that same scene. Especially when she is behind Wayne and shows up how she feels but not him save for a kiss on the head. It is sad to think of all those years that they wasted and were never able to recover because each was unwilling to give a little. Maureen has less to do than one might think but she does a wonderful job. It is nice to see Ken Curtis in a normal role. Bond does a fine send-up of Ford. Two things that I noticed in the Ford scene was 1- I'd swear there was an old photo of Wayne on an end table but was never close enough to confirm. 2 - In the foyer of the office they used the same cowboy picture on two different walls. Nice support by Dailey as loyal friend almost to the end. Some good old Ford humor thrown in for good measure. Nit-picking. The MGM lion looked like he had his hair done. He looked silly. The first 15-30 minutes played more like a Keaton comedy that didn't do a lot to advance the story. It did give some background but not much. Maureen's streak of gray in her hair looked out of place. *SPOILER* What was the point of the loss of the first child except for historical purposes? They made nothing of it afterward. Did it affect their relationship? Was there any bearing on the two who came later? It seemed like a throw away moment in the film. Unless I missed something they could have done away with that part. Not great Ford but good Ford.

>My Dad crossed to the dark side and got a fake tree a few years ago, but I can't live without that fresh piney scent of a real tree. We went to the dark side in 1988. We are still using that fake tree. We had a real tree and after standing for over 24 hours it fell in the middle of the night. We thought we had it saved but it expired shortly after Christmas. Getting it out of the house was a nightmare and I was vacuuming up needles for weeks. We have more than got our money's worth. Besides that "piney" smell always covered up the cookie smell. A problem no more.

Hey Frank: 1) We got things smoothed over. After 24 years that is what you do. 2) Christmas decorating. Not yet. We are clearing things out. I hate the preparation and the tear down of it all but I sure do enjoy it while it is up. 3) I was not lucky enough to have MissG for Thanksgiving but I doubt I would have enjoyed anything more except maybe the whole lot of you at my house.

April: I noticed "The Rifleman" was on vacation too. While I rarely watched it it seemed like it was on all the time. Three times a day sounds right. This disrupt in your life only makes sense if they put something on that is different. "Bat Masterson" doesn't fit the bill. They've already shown it. Maybe something new will pop up but they could do with a few more movies. Here's hoping there is something for you to enjoy.

He also did two previous westerns. "Copper Canyon" and "California." "A Man Alone" was a pretty good effort. The story was not all that unusual but it keeps your interest.

Hi Kathy: It has been so long since I've seen "The Man From Colorado" I couldn't tell you anything about it. I'd watchit for the two stars though. Thanksgiving? It's over. Great news on the VCR. Good luck.

Made a few years later you can enjoy the boys in "The Man From Colorado."

>Movieman Chris said his was crappy. I'm hoping he was being sarcastic. No. A migraine and a disagreement make for a day to be forgotten. And so it is. On to Christmas.

"Word." "Dude." Lord, I am old.

>I hope everyone had a good Turkey Day. I had a great one. Nope. It was crappy.

>Lust means never having to say you're sorry. Love means you lose your bank accounts, your car, and the shirt off your back. This is only true if they happen to involve different people. In my case with love I was happy to give all those things. It is quite nice when they cross paths. I would argue that the opposite is true.

I hope Groucho remembered not to light it.

April, thank you so much. It is one of my favorites.

Grab six more people and get on the extension.

So noted.

First celebrated in 1621 then together as a nation in 1789 at George Washington's request. Most eloquently proclaimed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/tgproclamation.html Happy Thanksgiving.

Hi Gang: I interrupt this conversation to talk about *Monte Walsh* with Lee Marvin. It's a pretty good picture. The most striking thing about it for me was Jack Palance. With a history of playing mostly bad guys he gets to play a laid back ordinary type man. A fine job. Marvin gets better as the picture goes, He gets more nostalgic but I would have liked to have known more about his past. Why is he so dedicated to the job? It feels there is more than that he doesn't know anything else but they never quite get there. John Barry wrote the score but didn't have much save for "riding" shots until the last half hour and then his lovely phrases come out. The down side is the title song is rather unmemorable and for some reason was done by Cass Elliott. (Continuing a bad habit of pop stars singing pedestrian pop songs over bad opening credits.) It seemed to suffer a little from being a bit episodic. People come and go at unusual times in the story and without much reason to their popping up. The seasons pass and are only noted by whether Walsh has a mustache or not. The bronco riding scene while really well done seem a bit much. If a horse can knock down a second story balcony then I want a different builder. Overall I enjoyed it. I must confess that I have seen the Selleck version several times before this one and comparisons are hard to avoid. Both are fine versions and cover the same territory well. I will say I liked Isabella Rossellini better than the original actress but she isn't given much to do in the first version. One surprise I saw in the closing credits was the music was produced by Phil Ramone.

You two settle down or you'll have to clean the erasers and the blackboard.

I'm sorry I didn't see your comment as I was writing mine but its nice to see we are on the same page.

My son played drums so he was marching and he had to know all those steps. My daughter played in the "pit." I used to tease her about how she should be able to march while playing a marimba. (At least I think that is what she called it.) Band competitions were no fun for me but the kids had fun and that was what mattered. BTW did you march uphill, barefoot carrying a tuba?

Re: The Big Trail. It is basically a talking silent picture. It has been a few years but the acting is a bit awkward, the sound (at least the version I saw on TV) is as well but when they have some action it is pretty good. This being the early days of sound when there was recording to be done there was not a lot of moviement to be had. The microphones were big and directional (think "Singin' In The Rain") so the camera had to be fairly static. Having said that I would like to give it a look in the widescreen setting.