I thought of putting this in Reading and Writing but since I mention a movie that I watched... Since Christmas I have been binge watching on HBO Max. I’ve shared a few but yesterday I watched A Call of the Wild starring Harrison Ford. It was a wonderful movie all around. I woke up this morning thinking about what makes a movie entertaining to me, why do I pick the movies that I do. Two of the top most reasons (1) The title and (2) the performers, if I am following their careers, like Harrison Ford. The title has to grab my attention speaking to me, tickling my curiosity enough to read the synopsis to find out more. Sometimes there isn’t enough but I’d go with my gut and go for it. When we were little there was no television until 1963. I remember because of the Kennedy assassination and how sad it made me and other than Saturday cartoons I didn’t watch television much. Reading and music were my favorite past times. I really began watching television when the Wizard of Oz came on. I was so fascinated with the story much like some that I had read in books – Good and Evil where there was always a happy ending. At some point though I began to see movies in a different way – the sets, costumes, makeup, stunts just to name a few. Wow, what imagination it took to bring movies to the screen. The performers/actors that I liked lead me to watch different genres of movies like Clint Eastwood from westerns to a big city cop/detective in Dirty Harry or Bruce Willis from a heroic Die Hard cop to a man who died but didn’t know it in the Sixth Sense. It’s a good thing that they are portraying characters because some of the movies I just didn’t like the character they were. I would always find a supporting cast member that shines too and on to another type of genre that I haven’t experienced when fact checking their career. There is only one genre of movie that I don’t watch unless it is by the person who experienced it and that is documentaries. I can probably count two as an exception to this e.g. President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Why I choose not to watch documentaries? Trying to walk in someone else’s shoes just doesn’t sit well with me and that’s how I see documentaries of people. Finally, which I found most humorous is that in most movies there is always a character named ‘Johnny’. I love teasing my Johnny about that.
Interesting about HBO Max, @Von Jones . We have it on our Roku but I wonder if it's any different than regular HBO on cable TV? I need to check into that. Oh, and FYI... Harrison Ford was not in the Sixth Sense; that was Bruce Willis. I'm a big fan of both of them, and recently watched Ford in "Regarding Henry" about a high-powered lawyer who suffered a brain injury and turns into a nice person. I'm a huge fan of documentaries and recently enjoyed the mini-series about Ronald Reagan. I was really surprised at the "power behind the throne" and how much influence Nancy Reagan had during that administration. I also enjoyed the Ruth Bader Ginsberg documentary. Cute that you are able to tease Johnny about being in so many movies!! This afternoon I'm planning to watch an old movie, "The Bishop's Wife" staring Cary Grant and Loretta Young. It's on Prime video.
Yeah, that's right it was Bruce Willis in Sixth Sense. He is another one that I follow so I'll have to edit that. Thank you.
@Beth Gallagher HBO Max was announced May 2020 so it's just taking off as separate streaming subscription similar to Hulu, Sling, Starz, etc.
I noticed it appeared on my Roku and SmartTV, but I haven't checked it out since we have regular HBO. Thanks, Von. ETA--I just checked, and apparently we can access HBO Max at no additional cost since we are current subscribers to HBO.
Well, I may be silly too because I watch a lot of old westerns. Recently all 10 of the Clint Eastwood westerns, Rooster Cogburn (The real John Franklin "Rooster" Cogburn was one of my great grandpa's cousins), Lonesome Dove series and most recently watched for the 5th time, Dances With Wolves.
No movies here either. I've been binge watching a Columbo marathon on Sundance. Hope to watch the Ohio State/Alabama game on January 11th. I'll be rooting for OSU.
@Beth Gallagher Thanks for the mention of the "Bishops Wife" that was a great one I need to watch again. Did you ever watch the "Thorn Birds" series? @Von Jones I never thought about Johnny being a common movie name. The first one that comes to mind is Johnny Ringo. I like Bruce also in all his movies. Die Hard #1 was my favorite. Sgt. Al Powell reminds me of Zek and still cracks me up even though I have watched the Die Hard series multiple times. I think today I will watch "Unforgiven" again. Clint and Morgan really make for a good show.
Hey Faye... My favorite scene in "Dances With Wolves" is when Lieutenant Dunbar attempts to befriend the Wolf that has been hanging around his outpost. The wolf slowly and carefully overcomes his timidity and takes a piece of meat from Dunbar's hand. A really satisfying moment! Hal
A few Documentaries we've watched and a few that we own on DVD: On PBS: Wildlife In The Alps In Winter On a Great American Cowboy feature (tv): A documentary about a high school in west Texas that started up a Ag Department. Not only did the school start up this Ag Department, a Bull/Beef raising Department was started by the Ag teacher. And, the Ag students put together a Bull Sale and really profited from it. All of this dealing with FFA. DVD's we have: America's Wild West: Autobiographies of: Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill, Custer's Last Stand, Wyatt Earp and others. To us, very interesting and educational. PBS Winchester: The Gun That Won The West PBS The Great Cheyenne Nations "Most Feared Of All" PBS When The Cowboy Was King: Movie/TV cowboys from past and present. PBS Yellowstone National Park
Not a movie but, since I finished the Jesse Stone movies, except for the last one, which I've been unable to find via streaming, I have been binge-watching the Canadian series, Heartland - thirteen seasons and still going. I didn't think I was going to like it but I do. It's easy to watch, they do a pretty good job of character building, and they introduce new people into the series in a far more effective way than most television series do. In long-running TV series, they usually simply bring in a new kid when the kids who began the series grew up, and it's like, "Okay, we have a new kid now." In Heartland, they generally introduce them in one episode, bring them back a few episodes later in a minor role, and by the time they become a regular in the show, the viewers already know who they are.