2 indians and 1 bard

"Maybe you should sing it?" 

Sure, I can try that! Let's use the music from "12 Days Of Christmas", shall we?

"Fine by me. You're the busy, vibrant, woman, after all."

You got that straight! Okay, here we go...

On the first two days of this week my true love gave to me

two A*List movies in Hindi

and a playwright on a high school stage!

"Hahahaha! That was glorious!"

Thanks! That was actually fairly decent, for off the cuff. Fun to do, too.

"I know it was! Now, talk to me about the piece at the school first!"

I'd love to! Remember the kid at AMC, Henry Dickerson, who also ran lights at Tybee Post? Well, he'd told me that his school, Savannah Country Day, was doing a Shakespeare performance in the fall. So, tonight was the night! Like the play last week, this group of thespians are also destined for the state one-act competition. The difference is, this troupe chose a comedy! "Shakespeare In Love" is getting two runs, tonight and tomorrow. And guess what? Silly me had forgotten to tell Elvis so he could remind me! I would have missed it had I not been cleaning up the November photo album on my computer! That would have been very sad, because I totally enjoyed myself tonight!!!

"Very cool! Looks like you even had a front row seat. I know you like those!"

Not front, but second, with no one in front of me. Yes, 'twas grand!!! That photo was taken as the cast of 22 were taking their bows after their "David Poole" - James Venhaus - called them all forth. They'll have to tighten up on their time, as this ran about 5 minutes too long for the competition rules, but they can certainly do that. Remember the 1998 movie version of this story? That was just over 2 hours in length. This 2014 play was written based on that movie, but was performed in 50 minutes. No idle moments here! The time just flew by!!!

"Wow!!! And you say they'll go at it again tonight? You could see it twice!"

I could, but I will not be doing that. I have the cardiac ablation Thursday at 1 PM, so I am taking things slower, with only the WNS on my schedule tomorrow.

"Oh, yes, I forgot about that date with Dr. Cobb. That's very important, and it's very important that you be chill for Thursday morning. Okay, how about that AMC A*List? You have some Bollywood or Tollywood as your dances?"

Lol! No Tollywood, as those are in Tamil, not Hindi. Actually, neither of these had the huge musical numbers of a Bollywood, though they did have some good party scenes and one had several romantic interludes. "Singham Again" was action, comedy, and romance, with a bit of the Indian myth of Lord Ram and Mother Sita woven in for texture. The best part was seeing so many actors that I already know and love: 55-year-old Ajay Devgn and 44-yo Kareena Kapoor Khan as Bajirao Singham and his wife, Avni, with the myth being mirrored in their romance; 34-yo Tiger Schroff and his father, 67-yo Jackie Schroff, as a keen fan and a mortal enemy, respectively, of Police Commissioner Singham; 39-yo Arjun Kapoor (real-life cousin of Kareena) as the evil enemy's son, determined to destroy all things Singham; 57-yo Akshay Kumar and 39-yo Ranveer Singh, Singham's best buddies; and 38-yo Deepika Padukone, one of the fiercest officers and known as 'Lady Singham' by all... but real-life wife of Ranveer Singh. Pretty cool that so much is all in the family, right?

"Oh, my!!! So many familiar faces in that group!"

Right? My favorite was Ranveer, though. For this role, he sported a thin, twirly-end, mustache and was absolutely enchanting! His role was definitely played as the the comic relief, to break the tension of the non-stop, kick-butt, action. Very, very cool! Just as a side note, guess when his birthday is?

"The 6th of July, just like your middle little brother's..."

The 6th of July, just like Ronnie's! I really like that little tidbit! (smile!)

"Yes, very nice. And what about the second Indian movie?"

Believe it or not, it was a ghost story!!! "Bhool Bhuliyaa 3" was most definitely timed for a Halloween release. Like the two preceding movies in this series, the story revolved around a malevolent spirit, Manjulika, who was haunting the palace and keeping out the royal family. Enter 34-yo Kartik Aaryan as 'Rooh Baba', passing himself off as a ghostbuster, kinda sorta. He gets busted as a fraud and tricked into going to the palace to handle their ghost problem so the royals can move out of the cattle shed and back home. Very funny movie!!! Much more romance in this one, too, with six musical numbers, too! My favorite has to be "Hukkush Phukkush", with its 'hocus pocus' pun in its title and lyrics. Nice inside joke, y'all!

"What a rare treat for AMC to have those two movies! And for you to be able to use your A*List reservations to watch for free!!!"

Right? Carolyn had been quite surprised at that. She was with me for that double header on Monday, with us popping out to Olive Garden for dinner in between them.

"So, what shall you see for the third movie?"

Actually, it's the first movie that's missing: "Here".

"What was its title?"

"Here", the new one with Tom Hanks and Robin Wright and a crazy amount of technical help. They get to age from teens that end up pregnant to senior citizens with age-related issues. Still, they are not the focus of the movie. The piece of land the house sits on is the core. The couple and their progeny, as well as the residents before and after them, just serve to mark the passage of time, as does the music. I got to hear "Monster Mash" and even "A Brand New Key" as the movie progressed, reminding me of very recent fun times! That may have been my favorite parts of the movie. Oh, plus the whole bit with the invention of the "Relaxy Boy" recliner was delightful!!!

"Wasn't there something about your great-great-great-whatever-grand uncle?"

You mean Benjamin Franklin? Why, yes, there were a couple of mentions of him. Apparently, his bastard son, William, owned the land for a while, and we have several scenes with him kvetching about the father. 

"That's odd."

Well, the whole movie was odd, bouncing around disjointedly in time, just as "We Live In Time" had done. I endured it better this time, though, partly because of the great soundtrack, partly due to the historical elements thrown in. Would I watch it again? Not if I have to pay for it. Maybe someone will string together those bits with the La-Z-Boy inventor. I would definitely watch that part!

"Well, why isn't it listed in your trio?"

I have no idea. AMC has become a bit haphazard with their bookkeeping. That's okay. I know which movies, and when, and that's really all that matters. (smile!)

making sure the driver can see

I've had the windshield wiper for most of a month.

Allstate had given me a 7-dollar coupon for buying $31 of car maintenance stuff.

For real!

So I bought the one new wiper - 22" for my side - and a quart of oil.

The ones in the photo above are both the same brand, same style, believe it or not.

It's just that the lower one has spent better than three years wiping water, leaves, pollen, et alia, off the glass, come rain or sun or wind.

The sun had faded the black paint to a dull gray; the blade was ragged and brittle.

Now, only the passenger side has a faded arm and tattered rubber.

Maybe I'll see about a new wiper for that side the next time I get a coupon...

maybe!

Now, off I go for the first Smiths & Kamerons Friday Fiesta in three weeks!

Later!

(smile!)

a trio and a deuce

Yeppers, my A*List dance card was a little shy of a trio for this week.

I could have seen a third movie today... but, I just didn't.

Tuesday saw me with a double header, and that was all I got.

"Conclave" was quite interesting, and rather timely, with America already neck-deep in the election process for a new POTUS.

"Conclave" centered on the election of a new Pope, after one dies unexpectedly.

Very nice to see Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, and Isabella Rosselini again!

Here's the thing, though: it's billed as a mystery thriller, but there is far too little action to warrant that genre.

The beautifully filmed piece is actually a psychological character study, with the end result being this: the cardinals who would be Pope are just people, too, like the rest of us.

I wonder who else in that screening room walked out with that conclusion?

And what about the second half of that game card?

What a hot mess "We Live In Time" was.

Disjointed, trying to tell the story about a couple and their relationship by bouncing in and out of the present moment - yikes.

The highlight was the birth of their baby in a Texaco gas station bathroom after a jammed up highway prevents progress to a hospital.

Seriously, that was the highlight for me, the woman who had the tubal ligation for bday24.

It's almost worth seeing the movie for that one extended, cohesive, scene.

 

Last week's dance card was filled, even though AMC put the trio in the wrong order.

That one in the middle of the A*List?

That was the new Michael Keaton film, "Goodrich", about a 60-year-old man who chose his work over his family, not once, but twice.

Note to the casting department: a man in his mid-70's cannot pass for 60 anymore than Demi Moore, a woman in her 60's, can pass for a 50-year-old.

Stop trying to cheat Father Time and science.

Kudos to Mila Kunis, by the way, as she was fabulous as the adult daughter from his first family, now tasked with babysitting the two children from his second family.

I can understand why Carolyn really liked that movie and I'm glad she saw it with me.

That was on Monday, the 21st.

I didn't see "Saturday Night" again until the next day, for Tina Tuesday.

I don't know why it's in that first slot.

I had wanted to see if it was done in "live time" for all the behind the scenes, and my conclusion is: yes, it was!

Don't be dissuaded by the posted run-time of 109 minutes.

That time includes the length of credits post-film, as well as the length of the very first sketch - between Michael O'Donoghue and John Belushi - of that first show.

That means the 90-minute pre-show clock is right on time!

Quite impressive!

Also impressive was "Venom: The Last Dance", seen last Thursday.

Tom Hardy not only starred in this one, but also co-wrote the script and co-produced it.

Get this: he's 47 years old and was knighted in 2018!

I guess that means I should call this Englishman "Sir", shouldn't I?

By the way, 2018 was the year he and "Venom" became buddies.

Nice!

I do hope to see this Marvel movie again!