Cinema Speculation

Quentin Tarantino’s reflection on films that he enjoyed watching as a pre-teen with his mother’s black boyfriends got me to viewing some of them but the upshot was that, as successful as these films are as juvenile entertainment, similar stupid plot points made the experiences ultimately frustrating.

Below is an excerpt and a clip I came away with followed by my rant.

Just One More Thing

A brief book of feel-good stories from Peter Falk’s mostly movie life.

Rate Reductions and Premium Contribution “Holiday” in NJ

Yesterday the “New Jersey Department of the Treasury announced sizable rate reductions and a premium contribution ‘holiday’ for eligible employers and members of the School Employees’ Health Benefits Program (SEHBP) for Plan Year 2022.”

Here are excerpts from further details along with some wisdom from Kenny G.

In the Same Breath

Dysfunctional government designed to benefit party members is not unique to China. I am chronicling a particularly odious example in Kenilworth on the countywatchers blog but I won’t trouble you with that here.

More relevant is what this documentary shows us being fed by governments and experts last year. Remember?

Where not to look and someone we are sadly without who would have certainly looked.

Hype and Glory

Maybe it’s identifying with his life but I found William Goldman’s reflections on his experiences as a judge in both Cannes and Atlantic City in 1988 very readable with some asides excerpted below (read the whole book if interested in how they work).

As my own aside, I picked up another of his books today at the Bernards Library and it was right next to Act One by Moss Hart (which I also picked up) which was made into one of my favorite films that Mr. Goldman experienced viewing alone in a theater, something I went though in one case by myself and three others when it was only me and the one I came with.

Raised Eyebrows

Subtitled “My Years Inside Groucho’s House” I identified with the secretary/author of the book which offered an insight into celebrity at an advanced age. Very easy read for someone with an interest in the subject (and with sufficient time waiting in the car outside of HomeGoods and Stew Leonard’s).

Randy Rudy

The Giant game and a Ronald Regan movie on TCM precluded me from watching the debate (though most anything would have done the trick) so if anyone out there watched it and either pension bailouts or other multi-trillion dollar debts was touched upon, do tell.

But, speaking of touched upon, the Borat movie is on those sites my family warns me against but, on the belief that using less than 30 seconds of a clip is fair use, here, before youtube pulls it, is the pertinent portion of the Rudy Giuliani part.

Apropos of Nothing (2)

Woody Allen’s autobiography turns out to be uplifting especially when you consider it was written by an 84-year-old man though the energy may have been generated from wanting to expunge that child-molestor talk from his legacy which gets about 80 pages. Here are the rest of the excerpts:

Apropos of Nothing (1)

Bookstores and libraries are reopening slowly in New Jersey but stock is low and I do not expect to get Woody Allen’s autobiography from those sources for some months so I jumped on it when it popped up at the West Hartford Barnes & Noble.

Though the emergency publisher has forgone niceties like an index and chapters there are enough reminiscences, revelations, and ruminations to make it an interesting read so far.

Doing Rude Things Without Getting Killed or Caught

Decades ago I remember seeing this bit of business from the Living Together segment of The Norman Conquests with Dame Penelope Wilton and wondering if I would ever get to that point.
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Pretty close as below are excerpts from two books (both with lots of pictures interspersed) I bought impulsively years ago and have finally gotten to.