Mama Mia Here we go again

Kathy and I went to Mama Mia 2.0 before it left town.  Glad I saw it, feel good, well done, plenty of nods to the first one. Not sure I would pay Amazon $20 for it, but if I see it in the Walmart $5 bin will be sure to grab.

There is an uncanny valley. Cher and Meryl Streep don't have wrinkles. Really disconcerting.

I Can Only Imagine

Went to see this movie today, here are the IMDB stats. This was frankly, a difficult movie for me to watch. There is a theme of family abuse, primarily from the father figure, (Dennis Quaid). People in my circles, cybersecurity, tend to be guarded. We don't talk about ourselves much; but I have traveled a million miles with some of the old guard, done hundreds of events together, and bit by bit you learn about your colleagues; I know I am not the only one that grew up with some degree of abuse. I'm not going to say I had it worse, there is no yardstick. But I almost left during that part of the movie, (well over half); screwed with my psyche.

The movie did show some fair push back with the "repenting father", tain't like you take a happy pill and everything is magically OK. They also plot cheated on the mother, she abandons, leaves the boy with the violent, cruel, dad and in the credits it says boy and mom are pals. OK, but the movie doesn't show it.

One scene was very well done and good for me. The kid is showing some brilliance, making moves, and the pros are all saying "you don't have what it takes", and of course he is doing flashbacks to his father's words.  Call it the devil, call it the world, but if you try to climb out of the pit there are always, (sometimes well meaning), people trying to pull and push you back down. Bart, (J Michael Finely), finds his path through A) forgiveness, camaraderie, and remembrance of his father, B) allowing him to write "the" song, C) Amy Grant letting the kid take his shot.

I am glad I stayed. I like the idea of faith based movies, the lessons are important, I need to hear them and learn from them. The message: Christ has forgiven me, therefore I must forgive others is true. The problem, as most people that have tried will tell you, is to have them "stay forgiven", and there is more than one party at work there. It is bit like Atlanta Ga. They've cleaned up from the SamSam ransomware last March, but how whole are they really?

Pain & Gain - Dwayne Johnson, Mark Wahlberg

There are some funny moments. But this movie did not work for me. If you were a 16 yr old male jock maybe. Off the bookshelf, let's make room for something better.

Shirley Valentine

"I'm in love, I'm in love with living." This movie is not to be missed. A lady in London. a mom and a wife, gets sucked into her life and somehow forgets who she is . . . or was. Her friend wins a trip to Greece for two weeks and take Shirley with her.

Her husband is so trapped into his life that when she tries to tell him, he can't accept it. So she leaves without him and finds life.

The scripting, dialog, timing, color is spot on, the Grecian scenery is fantastic, Mykonos maybe? There will always be a place on my shelf for this one.

The Godfather - Marlon Brando

I'd seen it, read the book, so have you quite likely. I had forgotten so much, it all just kept pouring back and new revelation as well; I finally put 2 + 2 together for going to the mattresses.

I had totally forgotten the "thunderbolt" in Sicily. That is what happened to me, that was a very long time ago and I am still married.

Masterpiece of a movie, there is most certainly room on my movie shelf. I guess I will get around to watching II and III, they came as a set.

One Man's Hero - Tom Berenger

Kathy wasn't home so I was a bachelor and this looked like a guy movie. I liked the pen drawings and the plight of the Irish immigrant start. It is a Western and there are some great landscapes and period costumes. The whippings are odd, not sure how they get the cross hatch pattern, whips go across easily, up and down takes a bit more effort. I could not follow the plot, it almost seemed like it was "life sucks". This one is not going to stay on the bookshelf, got to make room for other movies.

New in Town - Rene Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr.

Really enjoyed the movie. The first time I saw it was on an airplane, that results in sampling it more than watching it. We watched it at home and it was really fun. There will be a place for this on our movie bookshelf for a long time.

For extra credit, watch the special features. they filmed the movie in Winnipeg in the winter, so the cold scenes REALLY are cold. I used to be asked to speak at a security conference in Winnipeg in February by Dan Swanson, always managed to duck the opportunity, thank goodness. Hi Dan!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-swanson-155272/