Author: jelliotthhp

White Palace (1990)

/ jelliotthhp / Leave a comment

White Palace coverYou know, I first saw this movie when it came out, and I was young… saw it through the James Spader character’s perspective… now I’m older than Susan Sarandon was then, and it’s a little different. Ebert explained, it’s all about appropriateness. Do you follow your heart or succumb to social mores?  

Some really great lines for both characters… I won’t give too much away, but there’s wisdom about appropriate gifts.   

Roger Ebert gave this movie 3 1/2 out of 4 stars. WP face to face     WP face 2 face 2

 

The Linguini Incident (1991)

/ jelliotthhp / Leave a comment
This gem is one of my all-time favorites.
Sadly, it was not widely distributed and fell into obscurity. The plot isn’t very complicated: she wants to refine her Houdini act; he needs a green card. They both need money and work in a ridiculously over-the-top trendy restaurant that could withstand a little robbery.
I like Roseanne Arquette and David Bowie–they seem very comfortable together… but what really makes this interesting in my mind is the very quirky dialogue. There are some unexpected, random and quite funny moments of banter. I bought up a bunch of VHS copies, and finally got someone to put it on a DVD for me. If you can find this, it’s a delightfully odd little Rom Com.
FIVE MONKEYS!

It’s Not a Competition

/ jelliotthhp / Leave a comment

I’ve been doing yoga for a while now. In the beginning, I hated all of it. Now, my body tells me what it wants. But every day is different. Some days I have good balance; some days I teeter-totter and fall. Some days I can stretch; some days, I get cramps in strange places. Forget everyone else in the class, and go within. Listen to your body and keep breathing. 

Gaslight (1944)

/ jelliotthhp / 6 Comments

Get the popcorn and turn off the cell phone! This is where the term “gas-lighting” comes from… Charles Boyer plays a sinister husband out to systematically make his wife crazy. It holds up! Great acting and ratcheting tension. A must see if you like movies. Nominated for seven Oscars. Ingrid Bergman won for Best Actress; a very young Angela Landsbury was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. This film holds up as a classic.  There is a 1940 British version as well…not bad, worth watching for comparison, but Boyer, Bergman and Landsbury are tough to beat. 

The Tenth Victim (1965)

/ jelliotthhp / Leave a comment
I saw this movie when I was quite young. It’s not a great movie, but consider that American television at the time offered Green Acres, Leave it to Beaver, Bewitched, and the like… meanwhile, in Italy, there was this sexy, mod weird world where killing had become the ultimate reality show. Ahead of its time in some ways, perhaps. Has a catchy soundtrack I recorded on my tape recorder! The Internet Movie Data Base describes this movie as:The Tenth Victim (1965)

Letisha’s Brussel Sprouts

/ jelliotthhp / 6 Comments

Letitia “Le-tish-ia”  is a character from The Vicar of Dibley, a terrific BBC show from the 90’s. She’s an old biddy who loves to create new recipes, usually with disastrous results, like parsnip brownies or chocolate cake with kale… anyway, when I cook, it’s with Letitia creativity, but much better results!! I call this a Letitia recipe, but it’s all good!

This recipe calls for bacon, but you can easily leave it out for a vegetarian version.

 

Metropolis (1927) IF you never watch another black and white movie, you HAVE to see this.

/ jelliotthhp / Leave a comment

This movie is a MUST SEE for so many reasons. History: it was censored, cut up, squirreled away and scattered by WWII. In the late 80s, a dedicated director, Giorgio Moroder went on a hunt to find it. He got most of it, put it together, and added an 80’s soundtrack. (Queen!). And just recently, another section was found. The movie has been re-released (2001) and is now available in the closest form to what Fritz Lang intended all along.  THIS MOVIE WILL BLOW YOUR MIND FOR HOW AHEAD OF IT’S TIME IT WAS!