Musical Movie Review: **** Annie (1982)

 Annie is a delightful musical.  Several of us in the family have been in the musical, so we are always comparing the movie to the musical; why didn't they do this song or that one? etc.  Annie (Aileen Quinn) lives in an orphanage whee Miss Hannigan (Carol Burnett) is in charge.  Annie has it coming as she ran away, and came home with a dog.  Grace Farrel (Ann Reinking) shows up to select an orphan to stay with Daddy Warbucks (Albert Finney), the billionaire for the weekend.  Where Annie is by the office, she makes sure she is selected.  Rooster (Tim Curry), Miss Hannigan's brother and Lily (Bernadette Peters) enter the scene as con artists intent on stealing the reward money Daddy Warbucks has offered for Annie's birth parents.  With the help of Miss Hannigan, and an old necklace, they actually pull it off; but the plot is foiled when the other orphans arrive to the mansion to say, "they was bad people."  This movie relies on technology more than the musical with a helicopter, and security guards from different lands.  As I said it is a cute, delightful musical.  And of course Annie sings "Tomorrow."  Edward Herrmann plays President Roosevelt.  

Music Review: The Piano Guys: 10

 This set is two CDs and a DVD of the Piano Guys playing their music with cello and piano.  It is lots of music, and I find most of it very nice.  They are usually covers with their own arrangements.  They include Beethoven, Bach and Taylor Swift, music from movies like Avatar and Greatest Showman.  Many popular songs like "Over the Rainbow" and "Story of my Life."  The DVD adds to the experience as the sing songs like "Kung Fu Piano" which was recorded on the Great Wall of China or "Let It Go" recorded in an ice world.  

I really enjoy their music.  It is all instrumental, but the experiment with their instruments banding the cello, banging the strings of the piano.  Jon Schmidt piano, Steven Sharp Nelson cello, Paul Anderson videographer and Al van der Beek music producer.  Van der Beek also arranges music for the group.  Their CDs consistently reach number one in the classical chart.  

James Stewart Movie Review: The Spirit of St. Louis

 Charles Lindbergh (James Stewart) has a dream to be the first to fly across the Atlantic in a nonstop flight.  The movie for the most part is a one person show.  Especially during the forty hour flight across the ocean.  They do several things to keep it interesting.  Lindbergh talks to himself, he has flashbacks,  but mostly he narrates his own flight as it takes place.  It is really tense when he falls asleep and start spiraling toward the ocean.  I found this to be a good historical drama and it brings this bit of history more to life.  

James Stewart Movie: **** The Shop Around the Corner

 This is a delightful romantic comedy.  It is about a store owner, Hugo Matuschek (Frank Morgan) and the clerks at the shop.  A new clerk is hired, Klara (Margaret Sullavan) and Alfred (James Stewart) already works at the shop.  Unbeknownst to each other Kara and Alfred are sending letter to each other as anonymous pen pals.  Hiwever threy maintain an ongoing spat, which is confusing because Klara really likes Alfred.  The show becomes interesting when the penpals have a meeting, and Alfred realizes who the penpal is.

This is a fun show, and the conclusion is also very fun.  Hugo the boss actually fires Alfred thinking he is having an affair with his wife.  Turns out this is another clerk, Farenc (Joseph Schildkraut).  

Music Review: Renée Zellweger: Judy

 This is a C.D. based on the movie Judy in which Renée Zellweger plays the part of Judy and sings Judy Garland songs.  She sings a couple duets, one with Sam Smith and the other with Rufus Wainwright.  She sings the Judy Garland classics like "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" from Meet Me in St. Louis.  Other populars songs include "Come Rain or Come Shine" from St. Louis Woman, "Get Happy" with Sam Smith from Summer Stock and "For Once in my Life."   and of course the set concludes with the trademark Garland song, "Over the Rainbow."

Admittedly Zellweger is not Judy Garland, but then of course no one is, but she does a good job covering these songs.

Flight of the Phoenix (2005)

 The 2005 version of Flight of the Phoenix is very similar to the 1965 version.  They are both based on the fictional book of the same name.  The 1965 version has the plane in the Saharan Desert and the 2005 in the Gobi Desert.  The opening scene in the new movie has the drama of a man falling from the plane.  Both planes were doomed by a sand storm.  The original was all white men on the plane.  This movie adds a woman and two African Americans and a Latino.  It also adds the mauraders and a gun battle with them and them chasing the plane as it takes off.  Again the theme is man against harsh nature and that man is more resilient when he has HOPE.

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  Dennis Quaid

  Frank Towns  The pilot
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  Tyrese Gibson

  AJ. The copilot
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  Giovanni Ribisi

  Elliott. The engineer who designs rebuilding the plane
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  Miranda Otto

  Kelly. The boss of the workers
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  Tony Curran

  Rodney
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  Sticky Fingaz

  Jeremy

  (as Kirk Jones). Wears an eye patch
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  Jacob Vargas

  Sammi. Discusses religion with Rady
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  Hugh Laurie

  Ian. The executive 
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  Scott Michael Campbell

  Liddle Is killed by marauders
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  Kevork Malikyan

  Rady. Down on religion, but not spirituality
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  Jared Padalecki

  Davis. Gets lost in the night peeing and dies

James Stewart Movie Review: *** You Can't Take it With You (1938)

 This is a Frank Capra movie.  It does get a bit too loud at times.  Alice Sycamore (Jean Arthur) and Tony Kirby (James Stewart) are in love and want to marry.  However they come from different backgrounds, the tight business world, Anthony P Kirby (Edward Arnold) and Mrs. Kirby (Mary Forbes).  And the happy go lucky world of Martin Vanderhoff (Lionel Barrymore) grandfather to Alice.  Mr. Vanderhoff left the business world because he wasn't having fun.  They now piddle with inventions and fireworks.  Mr. Kirby is needing to buy the Vanderhoff home so he can control an entire area for a major business project.  The parental meeting is a farce, and the police come and arrest everyone for disturbing the peace and having fireworks without a license.  They are all in jail together, and then in court no one wants to acknowledge that their kids are engaged, until grandfather says they were talking business and agrees to sell the home.  Then Alice no longer wants to marry and even runs away.  Everything is mucked up but a song will bring it back together, "Polly Wally Doodle." 

Romantic comedy with a feel good ending.  It also tells that we are all human and should not be judging others.