Movies, Music, Books and Other Entertainments

Sunday, September 6, 2026

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.

Saturday, September 5, 2026

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.

Dennis Quaid
Frank Towns The pilot
Tyrese Gibson
AJ. The copilot
Giovanni Ribisi
Elliott. The engineer who designs rebuilding the plane
Miranda Otto
Kelly. The boss of the workers
Tony Curran
Rodney
Sticky Fingaz
Jeremy
(as Kirk Jones). Wears an eye patch
Jacob Vargas
Sammi. Discusses religion with Rady
Hugh Laurie
Ian. The executive
Scott Michael Campbell
Liddle Is killed by marauders
Kevork Malikyan
Rady. Down on religion, but not spirituality
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.

Friday, September 4, 2026

James Stewart Western Movie Review: ***^ The Man from Laramie (1955)

This is a good movie about bad guys vs good guys, but then there is some insight gained. Will Lockhart James Stewart) arrives in town running freight, but has an ulterior motive of finding the person or people selling repeating rifles to the Comanche. His younger brother was killed by Comanche with repeating rifles. He is not well received. Dave Waggoman (Alex Nicol), the son of a wealthy rancher turns he and his crew out, burns their wagons and shoots their mules. His father, Alec Waggoman (Donald Crisp) pays him back for the expense and hopes he will leave, but he stays on; always looking for information about the guns. He works for Kate Canaday (Aline MacMahon) who runs a competitive ranch to Waggoman. There is a love interest, Barbara Waggoman (Cathy O'Donnell), the niece to the rancher. Alec. And competition for the girl from the foreman, Vic Hansbro (Arthur Kennedy). Slowly the answers come with regards to the guns. Chris Boldt (Jack Elam) had been hird to harass Lockhart, and when Boldt turns up dead, of course Lockhart is blamed.

Lots of twists and turns in this movie but it is a typical western. It has its action. I think their geography was off. They were in New Mexico, and the mention Laramie is east of there, but in reality it is north.

James Stewart Movie: **** The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)

This is a movie where a plane crashes in the Sahara desert and it is everything they crew and passengers can do to stay alive. A couple die in the initial crash landing, and over time several others join them, including a couple who are killed by wandering Arabs, a couple who die in the desert, and an injured man who gives up hope and kills himself. The captain (James Stewart) is distraught that any die and feels responsible for them all. Heinrich Dorfmann (Hardy Krüger) hatches a crazy plane to use parts from the plane to make an improvised plane.

This movie tests the endurance of man. How much can you take, and where does hope fit in. Very good and enjoyable. Ernest Borgnine is great as the "crazy" worker who wonders off in the desert, Peter finch as the military captain who also goes of in the desert but makes it back and James Stewart as the distraught Captain. He and Dormann has personality clashes.

I learned a stunt flyer was killed shooting the film. The had made an improvised plane and were filming landings and the lane broke apart. The pilot Paul Mantz was killed and the copilot, Bobby Rose was injured. James Stewart had been a pilot during WWII.