The New Year's Eve Movie - A Tradition Upheld

For the I-don't-know-the-number-year in a row, Marilyn and I hit the movie theater on New Year's Eve. This year, the selection was the Coen Brothers version of "True Grit." A bit different from our usual romantic comedy fare for this night, to say the least, but a very good movie.

A couple of points:

• If you are a John Wayne fan and consider it a sacrilege to remake's the Duke's Oscar winning movie from 1968, get over it. It's OK to to remember Wayne's movie with fondness, but judge this version on its own merits.
• This movie, from what I have read, is truer to the Charles Portis novel on which it is based, which makes it different from what was essentially a vehicle for Wayne back then. I haven't read the novel myself, so I am basing that only on some reviews that I have read.
• Jeff Bridges is terrific as Rooster Cogburn. Not sure he'll get any award consideration, but this is a performance at least as good as his Oscar winning turn in "Crazy Heart" last year.
• The real star of this movie is 14 year old Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross. She steals the show.
• The other "stars" are, of course, the Coen Brothers. Their unique perspective on things that made moves like "Fargo", "Burn After Reading", "No Country for Old Men" and so many others so quirky and good are all here in "True Grit."
• And there is a different kind of an ending to this version than I remember from the original "True Grit." A little more melancholy, but a more realistic one, I think.

Oh, and to those of you familiar with our little New Year's Eve tradition, rest assured that we did indeed hit the drive-thru at KFC, and enjoyed our meal of Original Recipe here at home.

Happy New Year. everybody!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Best wishes to all Loyal Readers for a healthy and happy and prosperous 2011!

"The King's Speech"

If you have been reading the movie news and the early show biz award nominations, you know that "The King's Speech" is all the rage among critics, will be featured at or near the top of everybody's Top Ten List for 2010, and is heavily favored to make a big haul at the Academy Awards next year.

Today, Mrs. Grandstander and I ventured out to see what all the fuss was about, and we have to agree with all the hype: this is a terrific movie. Great acting by Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter, and a terrific and gripping story, made all the more so because it is a true story. I, of course, have absolutely no memory of King George VI, but it is fascinating to see the importance of a leader in a time of crises, as the King was at the outset of World War II. It is also neat to see a younger version of the King's wife, Queen Elizabeth, whom I knew only as the Queen Mother, or Queen Mum, as well as the little girls, Princesses Margaret and (future Queen) Elizabeth.

If you are looking for something other than a "popcorn movie" or bit of RomCom fluff this Holiday Season, then I strongly suggest that you make haste to see "The King's Speech."

As we were driving home, we were comparing this movie to the movie "The Queen" of a few years back. Marilyn had a great observation. She remarked about how kind and sympathetic Elizabeth, the wife of George VI, was in "The King's Speech" and what "a bitch" she was in "The Queen." An excellent point that you probably won't read in other reviews of this movie.

Thought I would close with an actual photo of the protagonists of "The King's Speech."

On Station Square, Pitt, and TV Announcers....

A post-Christmas cleaning of the Mental In-Box....

• For whatever reason, Marilyn and I feel like we are "on vacation" this week. Not sure why that is, but we are enjoying the feeling.
• Continued a tradition of ours by having our anniversary dinner last night at the Grand Concourse in Station Square. The crab cakes were top notch, but nothing beats a bowl of Charley's Chowder before the meal.
• Took a stroll through the Shoppes at Station Square before dinner. That was semi-depressing, and to think that this was once the crown jewel of downtown revitalization.
• And on a similar note, the Grand Concourse itself had a lot of empty tables at what should have been the prime dinner hour during the holiday week.
• Plans for today include a trip to the Robinson Cinemark to take in the highly touted "The King's Speech." Will provide a review later this evening or tomorrow.
• To those of you curious as to our New Year's Eve plans: an early showing of "True Grit" followed by a stop at the KFC take-out window. Nothing says New Year's Eve like a bucket of the Colonel's Original Recipe!
• Work is set to begin on the Village Drive "Basement Project" next Monday. Periodic updates will follow.
• To Absent Friends: a belated farewell to actor/comedian Steve Landesberg, who passed away last week. While Landesberg was not always my idea of a boffo stand-up comedian, he was great in the role of Detective Arthur Dietrich in one of TV's all-time great sitcoms, "Barney Miller." RIP.
• That was quite a can of whoop ass that the Pitt Panthers opened up on the UConn Huskies last night. Regardless of the home court advantage afforded by The Pete, that was a most impressive victory.
• Speaking of the Pitt game, the positioning of the Pitt broadcast table right next to the Pitt bench gave Billy Hillgrove's bourbon-nosed mug a lot of face time on the ESPN air last night.
• I can see how can be irritating to some, if not many, listeners, but I like Bill Rafftery as an analyst on college hoops games.
• Speaking of irritating announcers, on Christmas night, after the company was gone, and the house was "redd up," and before crawling into bed, I turned the TV on to the NFL Network's telecast of the final eight minutes or so of the Cowboys-Cardinals game (which, for a game between two crummy teams, had a very exciting finish). Can there possibly be a worse announcing crew than the Papa-Theismann-Millen Team? Papa may be an okay play-by-play guy, but he has no chance of being liked when teamed up with those other two jack-wagons. Positively the worst.
• Congratulations to Jamie Dixon and Susie McConnell-Serio on being named Dapper Dan Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year by the Post-Gazette. Can't think of a more deserving winner than Dixon.
• Watched a bit of the Saints-Falcons game after the Pitt game last night. At one point, Jon Gruden was waxing eloquently how about what a heads up and intelligent QB Drew Brees is. He just doesn't make mistakes, the Coach insisted. Two plays later, Brees made an ill-advised throw that was intercepted by a Falcon defensive tackle and returned for a touchdown. It was a stupid play that you might expect from a raw rookie QB playing in his first pro exhibition game. Hey, I'll agree that Brees is in the top echelon of NFL QB's, but the irony of such a bonehead play coming right after the MNF announcing team's canonization of him was absolutely delicious.
• On the was home from Station Square last night, we took a ride through town and saw the "Horne's Tree" on the side of Penn Avenue Place. A beautiful site.
• We also drove past Heinz Field to catch a view of the ice skaters on the temporary ice rink that has been put up outside of the stadium. Why couldn't that rink become a permanent fixture on the North Side during the winter months?
• Here's hoping that the forecast of mild weather for New Year's Day does NOT come to pass so that the Winter Classic can be played in appropriate winter conditions.

More on the New Hawaii Five-0

Spent some great day-after-Christmas TV viewing time catching up on a couple of DVR'd back episodes of the new Hawaii Five-O. I have to say that the new version of this classic TV show is hooking me. Alex O'Laughlin's Steve McGarrett, like the Jack Lord incarnation of the original, is a no-nonsense Supreme Bad Ass, who is willing to get down-and-dirty with the bad guys like Lord's McGarrett never did. And unlike James MacAurthur's Danny Williams, who was the ultimate yes man to McGarrett, the Scott Caan version takes no guff and gives it right back to McGarrett. Their bickering by-play is becoming a pretty nice piece of comic schtick in the show.

The highlight of the two episodes that I watched last night was the return of super villain Wo Fat. How great is that? This Wo Fat does not look at all like the old Wo Fat, who was played by the late Khigh Dheigh (below left). For you old movie buffs, Dheigh played the evil villain in the original "Manchurian Candidate." When I saw the new Wo Fat, I said to Marilyn that he looks like the guy who introduces the secret ingredient on each episode of Iron Chef. After doing a little Googling this morning, I found that he is indeed "The Chairman" on Iron Chef. He is actually an actor named Mark Dacascos (below right).

It is going to be great to watch the return of one of television's all time greatest cops battling it out against his arch nemesis. That, my friends, is must see TV!

What a Great Christmas It Was!

It was a wonderful Christmas Holiday for Marilyn and I as we spent some terrific time with both sides of the family on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was especially meaningful to us this year as we were able to enjoy our first Christmas in our new home. I thought that I would share with you all the beautiful sight of the Stonebrook Village Christmas Eve Luminary (the photo doesn't do it justice), as well as some pictures of some of the people who made it such a special Holiday for us.

This really is what Christmas is all about.

TO ALL LOYAL READERS.......

Best wishes to you all from here in the Grandstand!!!!