Movie Review: *** The 5th Wave (2016)

 Cassie Sullivan (Chloë Grace Moretz) has lost her parents (Ron Livingston and Maggie Siff) to an alien invasion.  She also gets separated form her younger brother, Sam (Zackary Arthur) but refuses to lose him.  She recruits a friend in Evan (Alex Roe) but she doubts he is a friend.  He admits to being an alien, but says he has turned.  Cassie also meets a former classmate, Ben (Nick Robinson).

This is a good movie changing the idea of loyalties.  Can you trust who is before you when the aliens also look like people.  Colonel Vosch (Liev Schreiber) tests those limits of loyalty and manipulation.  In this movie you may not know who is your friend or foe until it is too late.  

James Stewart Movie: ***** Shenandoah (1965)

 Shenandoah is an excellent movie, one of my favorite.  Set in the Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley, Charlie Anderson (James Stewart) is the patriarch of a large family.  He has decided his family should sit out the war, that slavery is not his affair.  But the war gets them anyway.  His youngest son, Boy (Phillip Alford) is mistaken for a Confederate soldier and imprisoned.  And so they go looking for him.  Staying behind is his son, James (Patrick Wayne) and his wife, Ann (Katherine Ross) and their newborn baby daughter.  Sam (Doug McClure) is new to the family having married Charlie's daughter Jennie (Rosemary Forsyth) before going to war.  Other family members include Jacob, Nathan, John and Henry (Glen Corbett, Charles Robinson, Jim McMullan and Tim McEntire).  They stop a train looking for Boy, and find Sam.  They decide looking for boy is futile and travel home.  On the way a young sentry shoots and kills Jacob.  Worse yet scavengers kill and James.  And then they walk up stairs to attack Ann.  She is found dead, but the baby lived.  

This movie provides great characters, love and tragedy all over the top of the Civil War.  It is a movie with heart.

Music Review: Top House: Practice

 I was turned onto this group studying Cynthia Parker.  They recorded a song about her life, "Run," last year and I really like it.  In this music set there are six songs.  You can purchase them for $5.99.  Practice.  There are several other music sets available there.  I think they have a good way of telling stories.  This set concludes with "Falling."  "I am falling in love again."  "Waste" is about the cost of addiction.  "I wasted my time on you."  "I Don't Want to Move On" is about holding on after a relationship has ended.  This can be unhealthy.  I really enjoy their music and would like to connect with more of there songs.  I checked to see if they are coming to Omaha but they are not.  

Music Review: Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso: The Absolute Collection

This C.D. was released ten years after her death.  My version contains 12 tracks.  There is a 30 track version.  It is released by Sony Music Latin.  Celia Cruz started her music career in her native Cuba.  However when the government wanted to take over the music industry, she left; first to Mexico and then to the United States.  She is known as the Queen of Salsa.  This C.D. includes Spanish versions of "Aquarius, Let the Sunshine In" and  "I Will Survive."  She covers them very nicely.  She also sings "Oye Como Va" by Tito Puente.  This is a well known song but originally in Spanish.  This music reaches into ones blood as she provides her Cuban influenced salsa music mixed with pop and rap.  Very nice.

At the Movies: Coyote vs. ACME (2026)

 This is a combined animation and live action movie.  I understand it was a long time in being released, but it is good that it finally was because it is delightful.  I would have gone just to hear roadruner say "Beep, beep."  I was not disappointed.  Coyote and Roadrunner do not talk.  This is a movie of little coyote taking on the big company ACME.  His lawyer is Kevin Avery (Will Forte) and his niece Paige Avery (Lana Condor) is an intern.  Together they make a pretty good team.  But they are going against Buddy Crane (John Cena) who was the pretty boy and classmate of Kevin at law school.  They don't have a lot of evidence other than the defective items coyote carries with him.  They do find a plot to test defective products on cartoons to perfect them for humans.  But no one will rule in their favor as ACME owns everything.  Not even Judge Troppogrosso (Luis Guzmán) The scene with Coyote and Roadrunner is excellent and gives deeper understanding into the characters.  

Very fun movie.  Beep! Beep!

Music Review: Alejandro Sanz: MTV Unplugged

 Alejandro Sanz: MTV Unplugged won the Latin Grammy for album of the year for 2002.  It is really a very enjoyable album.  It is a live recording from MTV.  It is a pop rock album with Flamenco influences.  My favorite song is "Cuando Nadie Me Ve" "When Nobody Sees Me."  It is the first song and sets a good tone for all that follows.  He sings of death of a friend who passed away in a motorcycle accident in "Se Me Apegó la Luz" "My Light Went Out."  it is very nice and an early Sanz hit that made him a star.  He sings of paternal love when he wrote "Y Solo Se Me Ocurre Amarte" "It Only Occurs to Me to Love You" after his first daughter, Manuela, was born.  "Aprendiz" "Apprentice" which reminds me a great deal of my ex daughter-in-law.  She was so toxic (and still is) but is very good about saying bad about those around her, not taking blame for anything and gaslighting that is as Carlos Sanz sings "of you my heart has learned."  He sings of broken hearts, "Corazón Partió"  He ends with a flamenco, "Todo es de Color" "Everything is in Color."  This is a very enjoyable C.D.  I would like to listen to more of his music.  

Music Review: Simon and Garfunkel: Bookends

 Simon and Garfunkel: Bookends, produced by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel and Roy Halee, Columbia Records, 1968.  All songs were written by Paul Simon.

This is the fourth studio album from Simon and Garfunkel after Wednesday Morning 3 a.m., Sounds of Silence and Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme.  It was nominated for best album.  "Mrs. Robinson" did win best record.  Most of this album seems to be experimental and didn't work.  However Mrs. Robinson from the movie The Graduate is an excellent song. The other song of this caliber is "America."  "A Hazy Shade of Winter" is also pretty fun.  "Old Friends" is pretty unique in that it uses an orchestra with building intensity.