Music Review: Chicago Greatest Hits 1982-1989

 This C.C. collections starts off with the classic and personal favorite, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry."  The album starts with that violin melody that introduces this number.  It is just beautiful.  Chicago has never shied from using instrumentals in their numbers; in fact that is the trademark.  The use brass instruments frequently.  

Chicago describes themselves as a rock and roll band with horns.  The were formed in the late 60s in Chicago, first called The Big Thing, the Chicago Transit Authority and then Chicago.  Peter Cetera, Terry Kath and Robert Lamm provide most of the vocals.  Their songs seem to be about love and relationships.  "I can't go on if I'm on my own" the sing in "Will you Still Love Me."  In "Love me Tomorrow" they sing "She loves me, and thats all I need to know."

"Look Away" is a good song of the after effects of a break up.  "If you see me walking by, and the tears are in. my eye, Look away!"  Also included are the classics "You're the Inspiration" and "Hard Habit to Break."  These songs continue the general theme, "You're the meaning of my life, you're the inspiration.  

"What Kind of Man Would I Be" ius remixed for this album and is also very catchy.  

I find Chicago to be very pleasing to listen to and as I said before, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" is one of my favorite songs of all time.  

Movie Review: ***^ Surrogates (2009)

 In a futuristic world the characters are almost all surrogates who are controlled by people who stay at home rather than go to work.  With having surrogates the murder rate is down and life is great.  However there are areas where they are people only and the populace do not accept surrogates.  There is a new weapon that not only kills the surrogate, but also the person behind the surrogate.  Several murders are committed, including police men.  Greer (Bruce Willis) and Peters (Radha Mitchell) are police men investigating the murders.  Greer and his wife Maggie (Rosamund Pike) grow farther and farther apart as they never interact as people but only as surrogates.  In their research the visit the creator of the surrogates, Canter (James Cromwell).  He only appears as a surrogate to anyone; but he has several different forms.  

This makes for a very good who done it mystery as they try to track this weapon and get rid of it.  The connections also end up becoming very important, and the world as everyone knows it will be forever changed.  In this movie things are not as they seem, because a surrogate could represent anyone and you don't know who they might be. 

 

Silent Alfred Hitchcock Movie: Champagne (1928)

 I think this is the Alfred Hitchcock silent movie I like least.  The story is about the daughter (Betty Balfour) of a champagne tycoon (Gordon Harker), whose father refuses permission that she marry her boyfriend (Jean Bradin).  She flies her father's plane to meet her boyfriend who is on a yacht going to France.  Her boyfriend has sea sickness and she meets a mysterious stranger (Ferdinand Von Allen).  She receives a telegram from her father who warns her about marrying him, so she proposes to him.  They argue over her having asked for his hand.  He later regrets this and looks for her to apologize, and finds her playing chess with the stranger, so they quarrel again.  The father meets them in France, and announces the family fortune has been lost.  The boyfriend leaves and the father thinks he is only interested in money.  The daughter is robbed and consequently they are destitute and father and daughter take a dilapidated apartment.  Boyfriend returns again to apologize and she rebukes him saying she is going to take a job.  She works in a restaurant where she sees the mysterious man who hands her a note to contact him if she is in need.  The boyfriend does not approve of the job and they argue again.  Her father also does not approve and says it was a ruse his having lost the family money.  She is mad at both her father and boyfriend, but the mysterious stranger pays for her trip back to America.  Turns out the mysterious an works for her father to keep her safe.  The boyfriend, unaware of this decides to attack him but father intervenes to say he no longer objects to the wedding.  Our couple of love birds now argue about the wedding arrangments as the movie ends.

This movie flounders because it really doesn't have much to say.  

Movie Review: **** In Time (2011)

 Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) is on a mission to undo a lopsided society.  In this society everyone is given 25 years, after which you no longer age.  However then you have to get your own time, and if your time gets to zero, you die.  In this way those with time can keep the world from becoming overpopulated.  When Salas' mother (Olivia Wilde) dies because Salas culd not get her more time before she died, he sets out on this vendetta.  Someone who wants to die gives him 100 years, and this gets him into a richer high society neighborhood.  There he meets Sylvia Weiss (Amanda Seyfried) whose father (Vincent Kartheiser) has benefitted by the system--living at age 25, forever.  His wife, mother and child all appear the same and are all 25 in terms of aging.  He first Salas kidnaps her, sort of but she wants to go with him, and they begin to change the system, by stealing years from banks.  The Timekeeper (Cillian Murphy) tells Sylvia's father she doesn't appear to want to be rescued.  Salas and Sylvia make a pretty good team.  There is always a bigger bank.

This universe has some very intriguing points and nuances which makes a good movie.

John Wayne Movie Review: ***^ Chisum (1970)

 Chisum is a formolaic John Wayne film.  Wayne plays Chisum, who has lived in the area for 25 years and built a ranch with hard work, and Lawrence Murphy (Forrest Tucker) who figures he can do better by taking what is Chisum's and controlling the law in the process.  You add Billy Bonney (Geoffrey Deuel) who is hot headed and explosive and things do not always go as planned.  Things go too far when Murphy's men kill Henry Tunstall (Patric Knowles) who had befriended Bonney.  Bonney takes it upon himself to kill the murderers and the sheriff and Murphy and anyone else complicit in the murder.  Makes for a good feud and war in town.  Ben Johnson plays Pepper, Chisum's long time friend and Pamela McMyler plays Sallie, Chisum's niece.  Glen Corbett plays Pat Garrett.  

Alfred Hitchcock Movie Review: **** Blackmail (1929)

 This is Alfred Hitchcock's  first talkie movie.  It is actually very good.  Alice White (Anny Ondra) has an argument with her boyfriend, Detective Frank Webber (John Longden).  She goes home with an artist she met at the coffee shop, Mr. Crewe (Cyril Ritchard).  He gets her into a different dress to model for him, but he forces a kiss on her and she protests and decides to get dressed and go home.  However she takes her dress, and then tries to rape her.  She happens upon a knife in his studio and kills him during the attempted rape.  She tries to erase evidence of herself in the apartment and leaves, walking the streets all night.  Webber is assigned to the case, and find's White's glove.  He takes the glove to her at the store her parents own and she works, wondering what happened.  At which point another person, Tracy (Donald Calthorp) enters the store.  He has the other glove and saw Mr. Crewe with White together and proceeds to blackmail them.  The tables turn when he turns out to have a criminal past, and he is wanted for questioning in the case.  Tracy panics and runs, and ends up falling to his death.  White goes to the police station to confess, but is intercepted by Webber.  The police assume Tracy did the murder.  White confesses to Webber about the attempted rape and the murder.  She is not arrested.

Enjoyable show.  First few minutes there is no sound, and when the sound starts there is lots of laughing as if this was easier to create.  A silent version was released.  This is credited as the first talkie in England, and was considered the best picture of the year.

Movie Review: **** Eagle Eye (2008)

A movi about when AI gores bad, and identifies people to kill and people to be killed.  Targeted as killers are Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf and  Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monighan).  They are powerless to resist as the AI is into everything.  They have Rachel's son, and Jerry's twin brother just died.  Rachel is recruited for her son, and Jerry for his brother.  On the other side military officer Zoe Perez (Rosario Dawson) and FBI agent Morgan (Billy Bob Thornton) are on their trail; but the AI is able to keep them from being captured, or get out of jail if they are caught.   It is only after a while they begin to understand the goal.  The AI is a US project against terrorism; an it is seeking regime change.

This movie is ahead of its time in terms of AI, which is a big deal these days, 18 years after the movie was made.