It was movie day at the Terrenoire household yesterday, as I was capable of doing little more than lying on the couch after Saturday night's Blues Challenge.
Results on that in a moment.
But back to the movies. We watched Be Kind Rewind, a quirky little comedy that had its moments; Persepolis, an animated story about a young Iranian girl that was very good. I highly recommend it.
Then we just happened upon Harvey, a movie I hadn't seen in decades and it was better than I remembered. Much better.
If you're not familiar with Harvey, it's the story of a pleasant drunk whose best friend is a 6 foot tall invisible rabbit.
Written by Mary Chase, the movie was made in 1950 with Jimmy Stewart as Elwood P. Dowd leading a great cast of character actors you will know, even if you don't know their names. Josephine Hull won an Academy Award for her hilarious performance.
But as much as I enjoyed the acting, I loved the writing. The title of this post is from the movie, as are these:
"I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it." - Elwood P. Dowd
"My mother always told me that in this world you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant. I recommend pleasant. You can quote me on that." - Elwood P. Dowd
"I've been spending my life among flyspecks... while miracles have been leaning on lampposts at 4th and Fairfax" - Dr. Chumley (Cecil Kellaway)
I was surprised by how much I had forgotten about this movie, and if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and rent it. You'll thank me.
How about you? Any movies surprise you lately?
Talk to me.
(As for the Blues Challenge, I took Ed's advice and enjoyed cold beverages, tried to play my best, and expected nothing. No, our band didn't place in the top three, but that was OK. Our good friends Valentino and the Piedmont Sheiks came out on top. Ed is their drummer. More on the competition tomorrow.)
3 comments:
I saw HARVEY in the theater when I was a kid and loved it. I'm sure that viewing contributed heavily to my skewed view of the world.
In the spirit of the holiday -- though granted not as archival as yours -- I defer to Apocalypse Now.
Duvall's character's straight-faced comment "You know... someday this war is going to end." pretty sums it up for me.
God Bless America. Please. While you still can.
Or for Christ's sake, at least remember us kindly.
We weren't always such assholes. Promise.
Spike.
Ah, you've got to love Harvey - it's been in my top 10 for years and years, along with things like the Philadelphia Story, the Bishop's Wife and Arsenic and Old Lace.
The only movie that surprised me recently was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Thingie. And I don't mean surprised in a good way.
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