Denny G., FL

          Good Morning, and Happy Labor Day!  Thank you for the September issue - more good things to check out, and I particularly want to see the documentary about Ed Sullivan (we always watched his show!), and The Windemere Children.

           I did start watching The West Wing (am halfway through the first season) - this show is SO good (don't know if I followed anything back then as I was busy with three small children)!!  I recommended it to a friend who is very outspoken about today's politics (if only we had a President like Bartlet!), meaning she is very unhappy.  Thanks again for making that recommendation.

           (July Issue) Just wanted to tell you that I love the movies you selected this month!  I've seen all but Land Ho and Between the Temples (I wasn't able to bring up the latter one - clicked, but it wouldn't come up).  I agree that Robert Preston was fantastic (can't imagine anyone else playing Prof. Harold Hill), but I would give The Music Man an "A", not a B+!  In fact, I have a ticket for our community theater's production of The Music Man on August 3rd - really looking forward to it!  Perhaps I'll have an entry for the next issue - we'll see.  Enjoying And Just Like That and The Gilded Age on television though.

          SUNDAY BEST:  THE UNTOLD STORY OF ED SULLIVAN - 2025 (Netflix) Oh how I enjoyed this one - we faithfully watched Ed Sullivan every Sunday night!  He did seem a bit unusual, but what a big heart and a pioneer in the television industry booking the performers he did.  If you "made it" in show business, chances are that you got your start o    n the Ed Sullivan show!  Thank you for recommending this one.

         DOWNTON ABBEY:  THE GRAND FINALE - 2025 (Theater) A friend of mine in Tallahassee saw this the same day I did - I told her the Crawleys are like family, and she agreed.  I loved the movie, and think it was an appropriate ending considering all that had taken place.  One little thing kind of bothered me though and that was Lord Grantham's apparent innocence of the changing times.  I'm quite certain he was aware of many new things - the scene with Lady Mary in the apartment (flat) was silly.  I wasn't convinced that he didn't realize people lived above and below you in an apartment, and that your bedroom was on the same floor, not upstairs - ha.  It was so good to see almost everyone again - I'm sure I will eventually buy the movie (I have the other two)

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Holly V., IL

I can’t get Gloria on Netflix but I can on Prime.

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​Art S.,IN==Reviews

         Saw a new movie this afternoon--A Big, Bold, Beautiful Journey. The cast included Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell, and in a small role, Kevin Kline. Robbie and Farrell meet at a wedding, one of those stares from across the room, kind of meeting where they lock eyes and you know there will be many more such moments.  It's really a serious movie, where serious situations and feelings from their pasts occur just by walking through doors or portals. It sounds more supernatural than it reallly is--in earlier times, scenes like those shown would probably just have been shown in flashback.  One big difference is that the two main characters never change their ages and current looks, although they may be referred to as a 12-year-old or a high school student.  It rains in aboutklll 50% of the movie, even at the outdoor wedding--umbrellas should be listed a supporting players.   I think it is the only movie Robbie has been in that she hasn't appeared nude.  But the acting is good as is some of the writing.  In the 1950s or so, the cast would have been Lana Turner (or Ava Gardner) and Tyrone Power.  Not a movie for most, and a little slow in the first third of the movie, but it gets better as it goes along.  There was only one other person in the theater, but the movie originally wasn't supposed to open until tomorrow but it arrived early.

                   Saw a new version of a movie I saw in 1989 called War of the Roses and now called just The Roses--referring to the last name of the married, about to be divorced, couple. Both movies were called "dark comedies" and in my opinion, there is very little comedy. The original movie starred Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, and it would be difficult to find two better actors for the movie. The new movie stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman. I don't care for Colman in most movies (and she's made quite a few "dark comedies.") I will say she comes across much better in more serious dramatic roles. (Maybe she was so good in this movie, particularly the nasty, foul-mouthed scenes that she wasn't really acting, just being her true self, but I don't think that is the case.) The vileness and hatred and competition came through in both.  In my opinion there was no need for a new version--I can't see that anything substantially different was added.  The lavish dinner table scene in this movie was very, very similar to another dinner scene in another movie that recently came out but the name of the other movie escapes me right now.  The English accents in this movie, supposedly taking place in California, didn't always come thru clearly, although missing a few pieces of dialogue didn't matter in the overall picture.  The tone and facial expressions and the violence added enough explanation. The ocean scenes and the architecture were noteworthy in this version.  I wouldn't see this movie if I had it to do over, but an acquaintance told me to see it, that she thought I'd like it.   The best line in the entire movie was one by a family therapist who told the couple that she didn't think they had the resources and temperaments to get anything out of the therapy.  I'd certainly agree.  Some of the screenwriting, especially about relationships, was very good, though.  Truth is, I couldn't find any other movie to see this week, or for the last few weeks, actually.