Category Archives: television

Paper Angels

drama, holiday, movies, television, , , , ,

paper angelsDuring the holidays we will notice Christmas tree displays with paper angels hanging from their boughs. If you look closely you will see a name of a child. Below the child’s name is a list of items the child wants or needs for Christmas.  The idea is for you to take one and buy the items on the list.  You, then, return the gifts to the location of the Christmas tree display.  The heartwarming tradition has been done for at least a hundred years.

Directed by David Winning, Paper Angels is based on the book of the same name by author Jimmy Wayne, also known as Billboard Top Ten charted country music artist.  The movie is a gorgeous look at what happens to an abused wife, played by Josie Bissett, who leaves her alcoholic husband and moves with her children to another town.

The story follows her son Thomas, played by Rustin Gresiuk, as his mother tries to build a new life for her and her children.  Thomas see her experience many challenges that the whole family faces.  That is where the paper angels come into play. Salvation Army enables a child to enjoy a blessed Christmas with the traditional paper angels program they do every year.  Thomas fills out a paper angel in hopes of making life easier for his mother.

Thomas encounters a disillusioned businessman, played by Mathew Settle, who picked his name from the tree.  As the story unfolds we see through Thomas that there is more to know about a person than the way they look on the outside.  The story gives us hope, resolve, love, commitment, and thoughtfulness. Sure, Thomas experiences disappointment, hurt, and anger. In the end is an uplifting story that draws attention to the spirituality of the season.

Paper Angels is one of the best Christmas TV movies I have seen in a long time.  It is well worth your time to watch and share with your family and friends.

Christmas at the Cartwright’s

movies, romance, television, , , , ,

christmascartwrightLike most Hallmark movies, Christmas at Cartwright’s is a charming movie that comes around the Christmas season each year. Cartwright’s is a fine example that Hallmark movies are innocuous, amusing and heartwarming to watch.

Directed by Graeme Campbell, the story follows Nicky Talbot, played by Alicia Witt, who is a single mother and without prior notice becomes unemployed.  With Christmas just coming up, being without a job is going to be tough finding a way to earn money to give her daughter Becky, played by T.J. McGibbon, an engaging and cheerful Christmas with a few gifts.

Nicky finds out a local department store called Cartwright’s is hiring extra staff for the holiday shopping season. She applies for a position. Nicky is happy because it appears she will have a job, but Fiona Aldrich, played by Gabrielle Miller,  a senior executive at the store, puts a curb on her plans and turns her down for the job.  Fiona is jealous of Nicky because she has seen her with Fiona’s would-be boyfriend named Bill.  Gabriel Hogan plays Bill, who is the store manager.

Along comes Harry Osbourne, played by Wallace Shawn, he suggests Nicky work as the store Santa. That way she can keep her identity hidden from the other workers.  We are talking Hallmark magic here on the storyline. It is a little unbelievable for a young woman playing an older man as Santa. It gets funny at times, but still hard to believe.

Christmas at Cartwright’s is a fun movie to watch with the whole family.  All the actors are great. Their roles are believable and engaging. The movie is timeless because it is like a fairy tale where you have to believe what is happening to get into the holiday magic. Like all fairy tales the story is worth seeing again every Christmas.

Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe

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secretlifeMarilynSecret Life of Marilyn Monroe grazes the surface concerning the part of the entertainment industry where malicious people lurk. These life suckers are few in numbers, but the few that are there can wreak havoc because they are sly and go unnoticed. This movie answers the questions of what happened to the demise of Judy Garland, Brian Wilson, Elvis Presley, Robin Williams and so forth. Remember when Marilyn Monroe died she was under the unfaithful care of a psychiatrist, Ralph Greenson. This mini-series is not all that factual about her true demons, but it does show the demise of her life relating to the demise of her mother.

The mini-series frames Marilyn as a tragic figure, pouring her heart and life out to a psychologist, played by Jack Noseworthy. The director, Laurie Collyer, has Noseworthy play the doctor as one who listens as Monroe recalls her life. The story begins with Marilyn being taken away from her mother. Susan Sarandon’s daughter, Eva Amurri Martino, plays the younger version of her mother while Sarandon plays the older version.  We learn that Marilyn was raised by a guardian she named Aunt Grace, played convincingly by Emily Watson. She was also in an orphanage, but married at 16 just to find a place to live.

Within a few years, Norma Jean, now played honestly by Kelli Garner, launched her modeling career and slowly began to pursue her ambition to work in the movies.  Soon, she discovers that being beautiful isn’t the send all to success. She advances once she establishes relationships with powerful men, including Johnny Hyde, played by Tony Nardi, a studio executive and her agent. He points her career in the right direction and changes her name to Marilyn Monroe. She is on her path to stardom.

Marilyn’s success came with new pressures. As professed in the mini-series, the studio pushed pills to keep her functioning. In truth, the studio doctors pushed the pills. The studio just wanted her stable and working.  They didn’t have the solution to help her, so they counted on the resident psychiatrist to help her.

Despite all the pressures, Marilyn begins her sizzling romance with Joe DiMaggio, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan.  Their relationship ends, and she falls in love with playwright Arthur Miller, played by Stephen Bogaert.

So far the series doesn’t shed light on anything new about Marilyn. Where are the secrets? We’ve all heard and seen this before. Still, the acting and directing keeps the interest high.

We also get a glimpse of John F. Kennedy.  Here we see the famous performance by Marilyn singing “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to him. Garner not only looks the part, her voice matches Marilyn’s voice and mannerisms. It is an honest performance worth mentioning because of the nature of the material.

Yet, as the director Collyer takes the adapted screenplay and tries to explain away Marilyn’s troubles with mental illness. That is not her job as a director – just tell the story. Sure, being a successful artist in any field is stressful and should be addressed with honesty.  I am sure there is a side to Marilyn that is very positive and endearing. But, this series portrays her, like most interpretations, as pity. “Everyone uses everyone,” according to a line in the movie. I beg to differ because if she truly had help, she would still be alive today.

We need to help artists in any way that is non-destructive with drugs and confinement.  Do no harm but help with safe and sane methods.

The Definitive WWI & WWII Collection

documentary, history, television, , , , , , , ,

The Definitive WWI & WWIII am amazed how The History Channel has produced an assortment of documentaries and episodes concerning the two Great Wars, WWI and WWII. The set is endless with titles that include The Color of War, an unrivaled five disc, 13-episode documentary about WWII, and The World Wars, a stellar production that spotlights a few of the more well-known individuals from the two wars.

Altogether, the complete package is over 44 hours and some content overlaps from disc to disc. The whole set could be organized better, and not so annoying while I try to come to terms of the flow from one disc to the next. The mixture of documentaries along with episodes from The History Channel series offer lot of views on both World Wars, but realize the product is a collection of distinct productions and not an epic told as a story from beginning to end. With that, don’t let the time, over 44 hours, allude you to the idea that each distinct disc covers all aspects of these two Great Wars. There was no way I could watch the entire set in order to review the product. I did catch some of the episodes and here are my thoughts.

Foremost, I found the discs had advertisements for other History Channel programs.  I wish it was an option instead of the trailers coming on right at the beginning of the disc. Sure, I fast forward, but it bugged me.  Here are some of the programs I had an opportunity to view.

The World Wars, a three-part mini-series, is well worth my time and energy to watch.  The series has a pretty decent overview of WWI and WWII told just about entirely through analysis of some key figures, including MacArthur, Stalin, Hitler, Churchill and Mussolini. The acting and production is appealing.  More vintage footage would make the series even better. The bonus content makes up for the lack of vintage footage. Characters have in depth overview of such notables as FDR, Truman, Hitler, Truman, Churchill, and Eisenhower. The feature is presented as a discussion by the panel of historians and professors who also contributed to the main program. They hold their discussions while clips from the program are shown.

100 Years of WWI is a two-disc set that offers a several episodes worth mentioning. They are Armored Beasts, Clouds of Death, Massive Air Attacks, and Underwater Killers. This documentary concentrates on how the industrialized world modernized to make horrific weapons of war like tanks, mustard gas, flamethrowers and submarines. The blend of vintage footage with modern, re-enactment footage is worth watching.

75 Years of WWII is also a two disc set with disc one containing D-Day material is worth watching, but disc two is nowhere near in comparison.

The Color of War is close to ten hours long and is probably the best program out of the whole package. The program takes a unique turn and offers an honest view of the civilians and home front. There is a lot of vintage footage and color film.  There is however lots of battle footage that incorporates violent imagery. If you are faint at heart this set might be difficult to view. Peter Coyote does a fine job narrating the whole series.

WWII In Space is a different approach to the Great Wars with a visual presentation incorporating many maps and CG animations, more than any documentary. The visuals keep the geography in proportion to the size of the planet we live on.  I like that because it gives me an idea of how the world is influence by the both wars.

Gomer Pyle Entertains Even Today

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gomerpyleGomer Pyle is a classic television series that meets the needs of good programming on television today. As a kid growing up, I savored the show while watching it with my family. The earlier seasons of all the episodes are so entertaining.

The first episode to watch, if I were you, is the series pilot that was spun from The Andy Griffith Show. In this episode we watch as Gomer (Jim Nabors) enlists in the U.S. Marine Corps. Andy is worried about Gomer because he doesn’t think he will fit in with the troop. He even hangs around waiting to give him a ride back home, which never happens and a great show is hatched.

The DVD set is almost perfect in picture quality and sound that is worth the price I paid for it. If you like great, wholesome stories, then you will enjoy watching each episode with people of all ages. I found these shows had great laughs and tons of humor. The huge DVD case contains all five seasons with Gomer Pyle (Nabors), a naive country boy who leaves his hometown of Mayberry to join the U.S. Marine Corps. Gomer is a perpetual wide-eyed innocence young man, who gets on the nerves of his tough, loudmouthed sergeant, Vince Carter (Frank Sutton). The complete series also comes with special features including commentary from Nabors.

All I can say is these kinds of television shows are obsolete. For people like me, who know about these shows, and understand the value they hold, can’t express enough how much they can be enjoyed. Yet, they may be dated and silly or just plan corny. Still, you should take the time and watch them. You will have great clean laughs.

“Matlock” Greatest Cases

legend, television

I have always appreciated Andy Griffith’s wholesome choices in television shows like The Andy Griffitmatlockh Show. I am not an ardent fan of Matlock, his last series, though I found it attention-grabbing and a DVD worth its weight in gold. Matlock Greatest Cases rests on my library shelf.

CBS promotes Greatest Cases as the best of Matlock. I am inclined to agree. The Marriage Counselor is a pleasant episode with funny tongue and cheek escapades. Viewing all the episodes interested me in more Matlock cases, and I am sure they will come forth on DVDs.

I digress that before Andy Griffith headed over to television, he riveted audiences with his performance as Larry ‘Lonesome’ Rhodes in A Face in the Crowd, also starring Patricia Neal, Anthony Franciosa, Lee Remick and Walter Matthau.

If you are unfamiliar with the TV Show, Andy Griffith stars as well-known criminal defense attorney Ben Matlock. He takes on some of the most challenging cases with great rivals.

The roster of guest stars alone will encourage you to view the DVD. The cast includes Don Knotts, Dick Van Dyke, Bryan Cranston and Scott Bakula. I could joke around and say it would be a felony to miss these shows, but I was entertained watching shady siblings, an eccentric millionaire and a killer comic, to name a few.

All in all, I’ve listed the episodes for your perusal. Let me know if you recognize any of them, and enjoy the DVD.

Episodes:

  • The Judge
  • The Sisters
  • The Power Brokers: Part 1
  • The Power Brokers: Part 2
  • The Lemon
  • The Talk Show
  • The Brothers
  • The Marriage Counselor
  • The Big Payoff
  • The Debt
  • The Last Laugh
  • The Dare