MOVIES TO VIEW

I received another movie screener called HARD DAY, a Korean movie with English subtitles.  Homicide detective Geon-soo Go is having a hard day: in less than 24 hours, he receives a divorce notice from his wife, his mother passes away, and along with his coworkers, he becomes the focus of a police investigation over alleged embezzlement.


Making things worse, on his way to his mother's funeral, Geon-soo commits a fatal hit and run and then, desperately tries to hide the accident by hiding the man's corpse in his deceased mother's coffin. But when Geon-soo gets a mysterious call from a person claiming to be the sole witness of the crime, he realizes that someone has been watching him all along.

Would recommend for its action, mystery and humor.  What would be the next to go wrong with Go’s life?  Keeps you waiting for the next scene.  Fighting? Of course. Nothing really spectacular. 

WOMAN IN GOLD is the remarkable true story of one woman's journey to reclaim her heritage and seek justice for what happened to her family. Sixty years after she fled Vienna during World War II, an elderly Jewish woman, Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren), starts her journey to retrieve family possessions seized by the Nazis, among them Klimt's famous painting “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I”, her aunt being the subject. Together with her inexperienced but delving young lawyer Randy Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds), she embarks upon a major battle which takes them all the way to the heart of the Austrian establishment and the U.S. Supreme Court, and forces her to confront difficult truths about the past along the way.

Shoenberg’s grandfather was the famous composer and coincidentally born in Austria.  As for his life, he had given up his own practice to join a firm who first rejected the pursuit until he found that the painting was worth 100 million dollars.  

There are just enough flashback scenes of Altmann’s life, as well as the holocaust happenings on the streets and in the homes to get it all.  Tatiana Maslany portrays Altmann during the war.  Mirren’s acting is always a winner! 

The Rape of Europa (2206) is a must see precursor  to this movie in the form of a documentary that uses interviews with eyewitnesses and historians and newsreel footage to show how heroic Europeans, Russians, and Americans worked to save the art of Europe during WWII.

The Nazis stole thousands of pieces of art and destroyed many others. But many individuals evacuated art and the American "Monuments Men" helped map out air strikes to avoid the destruction of many masterpieces. It is harrowing and moving to see art restored to the families of Jewish victims of the Holocaust.  Here you will meet the actual people such as Maria Altmann and E. Randol Schoenberg.  You can get this well done documentary via PBS. 

Getting away from the topic of movies to television.  I like to watch cooking competitions to see what the contestants create.  Nine out of ten times the first to be booted is a female.  Nineteen  out of twenty times, if the competition comes down to a male and female, the male is the winner.  What puzzles me is that when the cooks talk about their background, they tend to mention how their mother or grandmother taught them how to cook.  It’s all about what the producers choose.  Judges critique based on their own taste.  My favorite line is “There’s not enough salt”.  I would love to get the count on these judges’ blood pressure. 

Master Chef.  They choose the best dish in the beginning and it’s a guy who wins.  He gets to choose one other person to not have to compete in the next cooking challenge and he opts for guy.  In the end a female goes home.  

I enjoy watching Major Crimes, Rizzoli and Isles and Devious Maids.  Proof follows Rizzoli and that’s pretty good.  It stars Jennifer Beal. 

Got hooked on watching Doogie Howser from 2 to 3 am.  Interesting to see what commercials come up.  A perfect way for women to relax in bed…a coloring book and coloring pencils.   Yes, that’s right.  People who stay up late at night are obviously old.  Commercials for knee pain, back pain, falling and can’t get up.  Don’t they think that younger people fall? 

Finally, the dating online sites.  Christian Mingle says that God is guiding you.  So what happens when the date goes bad or a guy winds up raping the woman?  Does he automatically get forgiven?  Now there is Farmers Only.  What happens if you are black, Jewish and raise cattle? 

How about IAM Broke.com?  First meetings held at a McDonald’s or Wendy’s where you are only allowed to choose two items, the most, from the one dollar menu.  Dates take place by going to places with free admission such as museums on certain days.  Subjects of dates are talking about how you went broke supporting all of those $19 a month causes as well as being in debt because you were forced to buy that $1000 iphone for you and the members of your family.

Gotta go now. Weather on the news says that due to the heat and saving energy, we need to turn off the air conditioner but should be in an air conditioned place.