John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara Movie Review: **** Rio Grande (1950)

 This is the first of five collaborations of John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara.  Lt. Col Kirby York (Wayne) is osted on the Rio Grande, and dealing with Apache Indians.  Mrs. Kathleen Yorke (O'Hara) his estranged wife comes to camp after her son, Trooper Jefferson Yorke (Claude Jarman Jr.)  He had arrived in camp a few days earlier as a new recruit.  The relationship between Yorke and his wife evolves during the movie and it is fun to watch, as too the growth of their son.  Other characters are Trooper Tyree (Ben Johnson) who in addition to being a trooper is wanted on manslaughter charges.  Trooper Boone (Harry Carey Jr.) starts in a fight with Trooper York but they fast become best friends.  The movie is also graced with the serenading of the regimental singers (Sons of the Pioneers.)  

Great story telling.  In Black and White.  John Ford directed.

Tom Cruise Movie Review: **** Minority Report (2002)

 This is a science fiction that is a bit hard to understand.  It is a futuristic movie, taking place in 2054.  In Washington, D.C. pre cogs (peope with cognitive functions where they dream of future murders, and are used by the police to prevent future crimes.  Many people have been arrested as a result, and placed in a comma.  The murder rate has dropped to zero.  However one of our police, Chief John Anderton (Tom Cruise) shows up on a future crime report, killing someone he doesn't know.  He runs, and eventually gets to the bottom of a murder which was miss handled in the past.  A woman was murdered twice, once prevented by the precogs, but the second did happen, Ann Lively (Jessica Harper) was drowned.  One of the Precogs was her daughter (Samantha Morton).  Anderton steals this precog.  She is considered the strongest. 

Someone has been manipulating the system, and that person is very powerful.  A coworker (Colin Ferrell), rival of sorts, also started questioning and goes to the director (Max Von Sydow), and is murdered.  Anderton's (Kathryn Morris) wife is also involved, and is the person who discovers the true murderer.  

Directed by Steven Spielberg.  Even though this is hard material, with futuristic computers and such, I think is comes off well.  

Movie Review: **** Coach Carter (2005)

 Coach Carter (Samuel Jackson) takes a position as basketball coach even though he knows it is a tough neighborhood and the team has n9t had much success.  He sets some conditions for the players, 2.3 GPA and attend classes and sit in the front and wear a tie on game day.  They actually find a great deal of success on the court, but when the progress reports come to the coach, he realizes most of the team is not fulfilling the conditions of the contract.  He locks the gym and suspends games.  The forfeit a few games as a result; and the community has a conniption.  They go to the school board who overrules the coach and says games will restart.   Coach Carter chooses to resign.  The issue is important to him as too many kids do not go on to colege in Richmond, California where this story takes place.  However the players stivck with him.  They bring their grades up and get back to basketball.  This movie provides some exciting play.  They lose to the best team in the state in the playoffs by a last-second basket.

Samuel Jackson is very good.  Channing Tatum and Rick Gonzalez play basket ball players.  Robert Ri'chard plays Coach carter's son and als basketball player.  

Music Review: Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits

Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Columbia Records, 1967.

Bob Dylan is most known for his writing the iconic song, "Blowin' in the Wind."  That is the feature song of this C.C.  However there are only ten songs on the C.D.  The other on that s pretty popular as an anti-war movement song is "The Times, They Are a-Changin'."  Who knew that Bob Dylan wrote the song, "It Aint Me Babe" which Johnny Cash and June Carter recorded.  Another song in the same category is "Mr. Tambourine Man."  Dylan recorded this several times but the Byrd's version reached Number one.  The other song that is quite popular is "Like a Rolling Stone."

Dylan sings with a raspy kind of voice.  Some of the songs have a blue grass feel.  However the song that makes this C.D. enjoyable is "Blowin' in the Wind."  I sand this song with the Jr. High choir many moons ago.  

Movie Review: ***^ Music from Another Room (1998)

 As a boy, Danny (Jude Law) helps hs father deliver a baby.  At that time he declares he is going to marry the baby some day.  Jump forward 25 years and Danny is a down on his luck man who begins working making deliveries, and he runs into the same family.  The baby, Anna (Gretchen Mol) is now engaged.  Danny expresses his love, but it falls flat.  Anna has a sister, Nina (Jennifer Tilly) who is blind and over protected.  Danny begins to help her expand her life.  They go to a dance and she meets Jesus (Vincent Laresca) who gets her to dance.  From thee they form a relationship, and eventually marry.  As she grows, the family becomes more open and free, and Danny finds his place with them.  

Musical Review: The Neil Diamond Musical: A Beautiful Noise

 The Neil Diamond Musical: A Beautiful Noise was very enjoyable.  It presented the Neil Diamond story by framing it in a therapy session, with the therapist using the Neil Diamond songs as a place to focus her therapy; In a real sense Diamond put his life into his songs.  The ensemble went from them being backup singers to there being characters in his life.  The musical is presented with two Neil Diamonds, his current self watching his his then self and the rise of his career.

Diamond has had three wives, which means he has gone through two breakups.  Most of them ended amicably, but his second wife took his houses in the divorce.  His first wife was his high school sweetheart, Marcia.  She had a baby before Diamond started his career.  His second wife could be credited as the person who discovered him, Jaye.  She was with Diamond for 25 years, but eventually his being on the road took its toll.  His third wife, Katie, encouraged him to seek therapy, and to gor through with the musical.  His wives share in singing some of his songs, including, "Hello Again," "Song Sung Blue," "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," "Love on the Rocks" and "Play Me." "Play Me" is a very romantic duet.  The first act ends with Diamond being faced with writing a song to gt out of a repressive contract.  The song was "Sweet Caroline" which he sang with the audience.  

Diamond was a performer until his Parkinson's disease making so he couldn't continue.  In the musical all the songs were written by Neil Diamond, some with collaboration but mostly by himself.  When he started his career he said he had already written 50 songs.  His first song to become a hit, for the Monkees was "I'm a Believer."  He eventually started performing his own songs.  His manager, Jaye, who later became his wife, encouraged this.  

The climax of the musical the two Diamonds performed as a duet, "I Am I Said."  The doctor used this as an empty chair exercise, witting in one chair as the king, and another as the frog.  "Have you ever heard the story about a frog who dreamed of being a king, and then became one."  Sort of the Neil Diamond story rolled up into one line.  

This musical is really good, and I loved the music.  The thing that makes it special is the dancing.  There was some crazy dance moves going on.  For our night the part of Neil Diamond then was played by Joe Caskey.  

I also liked that there is a noe from Neil Diamond in the program explaining how the musical came to be.  It was a nice touch.

John Wayne Movie Review: ****The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)

 Sergeant Stryker (John Wayne) is a tormented person.  He has an alcohol problem, and is tough on his men.  But he hopes he has taught them enough that it might save their lives.  Of course nothing ever works 100 percent.  After a hard fight up Mount Suribachi, Stryker is killed by a sniper's bullet, just before the raising of the flag by the Marines on the mount.  Stryker's death was not expected.  I though Wayne always lived.  After his death the discover he has a son he is not able to see, a reason for some of his torment.  Ira Hayes played himself in this movie as one of the men who raises the flag, and as a member of the unit Stryker trained and commanded.  

Tough fighting but an enjoyable movie.  Wayne was nominated for an Oscar for this movie.