Akira Kurosawa's 1990 Film DREAMS

Japanese master director Akira Kurosawa explores the vital relationship between man and his environment with this collection of eight enchanting short stories drawn from his personal memories and dreams. A feast for the senses, the luminous tales are distinguished by dazzling imagery, rich color and keen insight. Another famed director (and Kurosawa fan), Martin Scorsese, portrays Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh in one of the dreams.


An excellent film! In one of the dream segments, what the villagers believe is Mt. Fuji erupting, are the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors exploding. Prophetic and poignant is Akira Kurosawa's expression of man's exploitation and neglect of earth.

A film classic starring Marlon Brando as Emiliano Zapata...

"That's how things really change. Slowly, through people."

The Mexican film, "Like Water for Chocolate," is another enchanting food film

If you've ever read Isabelle Allende or Gabriel Garcia Marquez, you would appreciate this film's touch of Spanish "magical realism." And the food! If you'd care to try the recipes, they're in the book entitled same.

I have yet to venture that far, although I enjoy making paella! Mucho delicioso!

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Synopsis:

Passionate Tita is in love with Pedro, but her controlling mother forbids her from marrying him. When Pedro marries her sister, Tita throws herself into her cooking -- and discovers she can transfer her emotions through the food she prepares. A feast for the senses, this magical romance from director Alfonso Arau was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and a Golden Globe.

A poignant observation by Robert E. Sherwood, writer of the play/film PETRIFIED FOREST

Do you realize what it is that is causing world chaos? ... it's Nature hitting back. Not with the old weapons—floods, plagues, holocausts. We can neutralize them. She's fighting back with strange instruments called neuroses. She's deliberately afflicting mankind with the jitters. Nature is proving that she can't be beaten—not by the likes of us. She's taking the world away from the intellectuals and giving it back to the apes.—ROBERT E. SHERWOOD, Petrified Forest.

Excellent film, btw, and the precursor to "film noir." Humphrey Bogart's appearance was his first film success.

THE END OF THE LINE, a documentary film & WORLD WITHOUT FISH, a book by Mark Kurlansky

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A documentary film about the oceans.






WORLD WITHOUT FISH is a riveting new book for children about the threat to fish, the oceans, and our environment -- and what, armed with knowledge, they, and even their adult counterparts, can do about it.

In this amazing book, Mark Kurlansky tells how the fish we most commonly eat could become extinct in fifty years, and the domino effect that this would have, from the oceans turning pink to seabirds, then reptiles, then mammals disappearing. It explains the complicated effects of overfishing, global warming, and pollution and the dangers of fish farming.

But there's hope. By becoming advocates for sustainable fishing, children can help begin to put the planet back on the right track, one fish at a time.

Interwoven with the book is a 12-page full-color graphic novel. Each beautifully illustrated chapter opener links to form a larger fictional story that complements the text. Hand in hand, they create a Silent Spring for a new generation.

Mark Kurlansky is a former commercial fisherman and New York Times bestselling author of Cod, Salt, The Big Oyster, and other books. He’s won numerous awards, including the James A. Beard Award, ALA Notable Book Award, and New York Public Library Best Books of the Year Award. He lives with his wife and daughter in New York City and Gloucester, Massachusetts.

The Sunflower. "Wherever light is, no matter how weak, these flowers will find it..."

"...I don't think there's anything on this planet that more trumpets life than the sunflower. For me, that's the reason behind its name. Not because it looks like the sun but because it follows the sun. During the course of the day, the head tracks the journey of the sun across the sky. A satellite dish for sunshine. Wherever light is, no matter how weak, these flowers will find it. And that's such an admirable thing. And such a lesson in life."

A quote from the film, Calendar Girls.

For those with a hearty appetite, 1996's BIG NIGHT is a hilarious and satisfying food film! Esp. if you love Italian food as much as I do!

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When I first saw BIG NIGHT starring Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub, Isabella Rossellini, and Minnie Driver, I immediately bought the film for its charm, wit, and, of course, food -- Italiano style! I'm still learning the recipes. If anyone would like to try them, below is the link. Piacere il pasto!

http://www.meetup.com/cooking-239/messages/boards/thread/4459784?thread=4459784

Synopsis:

Primo and Secondo are two brothers who have emigrated from Italy to open an Italian restaurant in America. Primo is the irascible and gifted chef, brilliant in his culinary genius, but determined not to squander his talent on making the routine dishes that customers expect. Secondo is the smooth front-man, trying to keep the restaurant financially afloat, despite few patrons other than a poor artist who pays with his paintings. The owner of the nearby Pascal’s restaurant, enormously successful (despite its mediocre fare), offers a solution – he will call his friend, a big-time jazz musician, to play a special benefit at their restaurant. Primo begins to prepare his masterpiece, a feast of a lifetime, for the brothers’ big night…

"The Last of the Lions" a film by Dereck and Beverly Joubert

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Many of us are so detached from nature and unaware of the dire consequences of these majestic animals relative to us and earth's ecosystems . When the last few of these wild cats are gone, will we feel indifferent, or worse yet, sad, when it's too late?

Earth is our home. We must love it as its guardian as well as its inhabitants.

For your enjoyment, SCROOGE in its entirety. God bless us, everyone!

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Of the countless number of Christmas films, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol has always been my favorite. It never fails to entertain and, simultaneously, send the message that each of us can profoundly affect one another's happiness.

Although productions starring Reginald Owen and Alastair Sim are superb, the 1935 British production of SCROOGE (the first sound production of A Christmas Carol) starring Seymour Hicks presents a raw but realistic portrait of the strength of humanity during difficult times.

Enjoy, and wishing you and your loved ones a Blessed and Merry Christmas! xo

In its entirety, "House on Haunted Hill" starring Vincent Price. Happy Halloween!

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My all-time favorite Halloween film is the B-classic House on Haunted Hill starring Vincent Price. Its 1950's black and white setting and sinister plot amply provides for that yearly spook! Enjoy! And...

Happy Halloween! :))

A few film suggestions for St. Patrick's Day!

Here are 5 great movies to enjoy on Saint Patrick's Day:

5. The Secret of Roan Inish is an independent film based on the Irish legend of the selkie (a mythical creature that can take both the form of a seal and of a human being). The movie tells the story of a young girl who discovers the role selkies have played in her family for generations. The movie was filmed in Ireland and is most noted for its breathtaking cinematography.

4. The Seventh Stream is a 2001 Hallmark Hall of Fame production starring Scott Glenn and Saffron Burrows. Filmed on location in Ireland, the movie tells a highly romantic story about an Irishman who rescues and, later, falls in love with a selkie (no kidding; this one really is romantic. It's not just sappy like a lot of other Hallmark movies!).

3. St. Patrick: The Irish Legend was, once again, filmed in Ireland. It tells the true story about how, after escaping from the man who held him as a slave, St. Patrick returned to convert the heathens of Ireland. Starring Patrick Bergin, Susannah York, Malcolm McDowell, and Alan Bates.

2. Waking Ned Devine is a side-splitting comedy about the people of an Irish village who decide to claim the lottery winnings of an old man who dropped dead from the shock of winning. Filmed on location in Ireland, this movie has beautiful cinematography and an absolutely fantastic soundtrack. (Interesting note: This movie also stars the beautiful Susan Lynch who had earlier played the extremely small role of the Selkie in The Secret of Roan Inish.)

1. The Quiet Man is a lavish John Ford production starring the immortal team of John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara (this was a rather strange character change for Wayne who was starring mostly in Westerns at the time). The movie tells the touching story of an American boxer who, after accidently killing his opponent, retreats to Ireland and struggles to understand the ancient culture. Victor McLaglen and the adorable Barry Fitzgerald co-star. Not surprisingly, the production won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and John Ford won Best Director.

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Interesting Commentary by Michael Medved--Can 'Avatar' save Oscar?

An interesting take on the Academy Awards and the Oscar by Michael Medved for CNN on February 2, 2010.

Editor's note: Michael Medved's daily, syndicated radio show on politics and pop culture has drawn top-ten audiences for more than a decade. Author of the newly published "The 5 Big Lies about American Business," Medved is the former chief film critic of The New York Post and former co-host of PBS' "Sneak Previews."

Seattle, Washington (CNN) -- While dramatizing the against-the-odds rescue of a noble, harmonious alien society called the Na'vi, James Cameron's "Avatar" may also effectuate the rescue of a nasty, contentious alien society known as Hollywood -- or at least save Tinseltown's annual Oscar extravaganza from its long-term ratings slump.

The annual Academy Awards telecast used to be one of the big, unifying cultural events that most Americans shared and talked about -- like the Super Bowl, or presidential election night, or Christmas Eve. As recently as the 1990's, more than 40 million U.S. viewers -- according to The Nielsen Company -- watched the broadcast in whole or in part, and spoke the next day about the best and worst gowns, the dumbest acceptance speeches, and the biggest surprises in the major categories.

Beginning with the awards for the film year 2003, however, the ratings for Hollywood's big show took a sharp turn for the worse, dipping consistently below the 40 million figure (despite sharply increased population) and reaching an all-time low in 2008, according to Nielsen.

The problem wasn't the quality of the hosts or the clumsiness of the big musical numbers, but the year-after-year nature of the top nominated films, with deeply depressing, art-house fare ("Million Dollar Baby," "Crash") reliably crowding out more popular releases.

The infamous 2008 Oscar telecast experienced a crash all its own, with just 31.76 million viewers -- or barely one out of ten Americans, according to Nielsen. As The Hollywood Reporter observed, the collapse in the size of the audience had everything to do with the gloomy nature of the leading nominees, all of which scored high on "the depression meter. ... 'Atonement,' 'Michael Clayton,' 'Juno,' 'No Country for Old Men,' and 'There Will Be Blood' were the bedsheet-noose best picture nominees."

The ratings last year rebounded slightly, with the relatively upbeat "Slum Dog Millionaire" delivering some old-fashioned uplift with its reassuringly familiar poor-boy-makes-good and love-conquers-all messages, despite the exotic (and sometimes brutal) Mumbai, India, settings.

For this year's March 7 broadcast, however, industry insiders tell me they expect a spectacular increase in the size of the TV audience -- perhaps even surpassing the huge 1998 ratings that set a recent record: 55 million viewers, nearly twice the viewership for 2008, according to Nielsen.

Sure, Billy Crystal's sprightly humor helped attract the hordes who viewed the '98 spectacle -- but the big attraction was a very big movie: "Titanic," the ultimate winner of 11 Oscars and, at the time, the top grossing motion picture ever released. No wonder James Cameron proudly proclaimed himself "king of the world" while scooping up his gold baldie for Best Director.

Well, 2010 will witness the "Return of the King" (you should pardon the expression), with "Avatar" replacing "Titanic" as history's top money-maker and listed as a heavy favorite for numerous Academy Awards (particularly in the technical arena).

The Oscar telecast will get a huge boost from all the avid "Avatar" fanatics, many of whom have seen the movie over and over again. Popular favorite Sandra Bullock, odds-on favorite to win Best Actress (she's already won the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild Awards and tied for the Critics Choice Awards) will draw additional viewers who made the heartwarming, faith-family-and-football saga "The Blind Side" one of last year's most successful surprises.

Ironically, the presence of such populist fare on any list of sure-thing nominees makes the much-ballyhooed reform of the Best Picture category largely unnecessary when it comes to insuring a successful telecast.

Instead of five nominees as in the past, this year the Academy selected 10 films as candidates for the top prize, hoping to guarantee at least a few popular box office winners to go along with the usual dark, despairing and little-seen indie offerings on the ever-popular theme of "Life Sucks." (Actually, Mel Brooks directed a 1991 film originally entitled "Life Sucks," later released as "Life Stinks," which won no Oscar nominations and garnered the worst box office returns of his long, distinguished career.)

The good side of doubling the number of nominees involves increasing the chances for worthy films to get additional recognition, like the superb animated Disney/Pixar release "Up," which was nominated for Best Picture.

There is, however, a downside to the expansion of the Best Picture category: By swelling the number of nominees, the Academy contributes to the ongoing fragmentation of our culture. In recent years, only a handful of ferociously committed film buffs (and professional critics) could claim to have seen all five of the top nominees, and with ten choices now for the top prize, the number of moviegoers to have seen them all -- or even able to talk about them all -- will shrink even further.

In a similar vein, the expansion of television into innumerable cable networks (way beyond the traditional big three broadcast operations) may have vastly expanded the number of worthy offerings, but greatly reduces the cultural impact of any one of them.

"Mad Men" or "The Sopranos" may be great, but can't compare to the ability of old shows like "I Love Lucy" or "Mash" or "The Cosby Show" to bring Americans together for a few moments of entertainment across all demographic divisions.

Because of "Avatar's" phenomenal popularity, it may look like this year's Oscar show will have recaptured that unifying potential; but once the Na'vi send the corporate invaders back to Earth and recede into movie history, the centrifugal force of too many choices and ever-multiplying niche audiences will kick in once more and dictate the further atomization of our civilization. Not even James Cameron can fight the long-term trend.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Michael Medved.

That's A Wrap: Some of This Holiday Season's Movies

There's something for everyone at the movies this holiday season, from a musical with Daniel-Day Lewis to James Cameron's first feature since Titanic.

Some of the most anticipated movies of 2009 will be released this winter, as studios aim to take advantage of the holiday crowds and slip in Oscar hopefuls ahead of awards season.

Recent releases like Disney's modern interpretation of the traditional Charles Dickens tale A Christmas Carol have already started to build up the holiday

mood.

Other upcoming highlights include big-budget 3D epic Avatar, which is due to be released December 18th worldwide, and Peter Jackson's film adaptation of Alice Sebold's heart-wrenching novel The Lovely Bones.

Christmas falls on a Friday this year, and will usher in Rob Marshall's musical Nine with an all-star cast including Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, and Sophia Loren.

Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, will be in theatres Christmas Day.

Just to name of a few!

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Various Reviews for Michael Jackson's "This Is It"

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: "Looks like the world has missed one helluva concert."

TIME MAGAZINE: "Michael Jackson will have no resurrection -- in the end, that was that -- but the movie does earn him a redemptive legacy. It proves that at the end, he was still a thriller."

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: "As the last set of images will ever have of Michael Jackson, This Is It offers a raw and endearing sketch of a genius at work."

ROGER EBERT: "The curtain fell sooner than expected. What is left is this extraordinary documentary, nothing at all what I was expecting to see. Here is not a sick and drugged man forcing himself through gruelling rehearsals, but a spirit embodied by music. Michael Jackson was something else."

THE HUFFINGTON POST: "There is no getting around the obvious exploitation factor at play. Regardless of how tasteful and respectful this film is, at the end of the day, Sony paid $60 million for the rights to this otherwise private footage because they wanted to cash in on the sudden and shocking death of its star.

But if you can disassociate the material from the motive for its production, Kenny Ortega's This Is It works as a low-key farewell to a generational icon."

VARIETY: "Even at nearly two hours, the film feels too short... Yet, one can't help but worry that, rather than a bittersweet farewell, the film will merely serve as the opening salvo to a flood of posthumous releases and merchandising that will make Tupac Shakur's estate seem a paragon of restraint."

ANTICOOL.COM: "Sure, it's an obvious money-grab, but This Is It managed to be an incredibly touching insight to one of the most iconic musicians of all time."

PETRA MICHELLE: "Throughout This Is It, I was rapt by Michael Jackson's presence. He never lost it! His attention to detail in how he would perform in his upcoming tours was awe inspiring. The ideas never stopped coming and Kenny Ortega offered a splendid interpretation of MJ's incarnations of Thriller, Smooth Criminal, Earth Song, Human Nature, and so many more.

I was AT the This Is It concert...clapping, singing, and dancing in my seat the entire time. When I left the theatre, Michael Jackson's presence reverberated. His brilliance, gentleness, and love will never die!"

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Tickets On Sale for Michael Jackson's "This Is It"

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Since tickets went on sale on Sunday, hundreds of shows have already sold out. Sony Pictures, the studio behind the movie, claims that 30,000 tickets were sold in London within the first day of sales while $1 million were sold in Japan during the same time span.

Advance sales records were also broken everywhere from Holland to New Zealand. Fans weren't just logging onto their computers for tickets. The 3,000 tickets to advanced screenings the day before the film's release in Los Angeles were gone in two hours with fans waiting in line for up to three days.

This Is It will open worldwide on October 28th for a two-week run.

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All aboard the Orient Express! Our Conductress and Hostess, MuseSwings, will guide us to blogs who will offer the finest cuisine, breathtaking excursions, and titillating entertainment, in addition to historic information topped with mystery and high adventure!

Since traveling by train is my preferred choice of transport, I can only imagine the excitement on the Orient Express. A relaxing way to enjoy the lush landscapes and striking up conversations with fascinating travelers from the most unexpected places.

Two may start as strangers and end as life-long friends. But beware. Not all are what they seem, as seen below! Enjoy your day on the Orient Express!

Strangers flirting over lunch in...

Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest with Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint

Espionage on...



Night Train to Venice with Hugh Grant and Rachel Price

Murder on the Orient Express with a star-studded cast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo6eSzJIyWA

A robbery on...

On the Last Great Train Robbery with Sean Connery

Midnight Express

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIeMyfaQ5IE

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Christmas in Bloggyland Tour

MERRY CHRISTMAS IN BLOGGYLAND!

Take a special Christmas Tour in Bloggyland with Cynthia of Muse Swings and her elves. Travel from blog to blog to see what wonderful things our fellow bloggers have done to celebrate the Holidays.

Below is a fest of Holiday films for your enjoyment. Whether between festivities or at the end of the day, I hope you enjoy some all-around favorites!

LAUREL & HARDY

in Babes in Toyland



"Christmas in July?"

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

"Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.

THE BISHOP'S WIFE

Dudley, the mischievous angel.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

"God bless us everyone."

THE GRINCH

"I'll be fashionably late."

JUDY GARLAND

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

THE FAMILY STONE

"You have a freak flag. You just don't fly it.'

LOVE ACTUALLY

Christmas is all around us!

THE HOLIDAY (Italian)

"It's the Santa Anna winds. Anything can happen!"

THE HOLIDAY

"Good night." "Sweet dreams."

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