August 6, 1998
Dear Everyone:
We are experiencing a
Heat Wave.
I know, I know...you people in the Midwest, the
East and the South are probably thinking, “Oh, you pampered
Californians, what do you know about true heat waves?”
Well, I know that when the thermometer on my patio registers 114º
in the shade at 4:30 in the afternoon, as it did Monday, that means it’s
hot outside.
Actually, I personally feel that anything over
about 74º is uncomfortably warm; but that’s probably because I was once
a polar bear in a
previous life.
However, even those people who were
salamanders during
previous incarnations are in agreement:
It’s hot.
The temperatures are slowly dropping from 114º to
104º to 100º. Hopefully, by
the weekend, we will be back into our more normal weather pattern where,
once the sun sets, you can open the windows and get a cooling breeze
going through the house.
Otherwise, the
air conditioner doesn’t really have much affect on the upstairs
rooms
On the other hand, I’m supremely grateful to have
any air conditioning at all.
Tuesday evening, I got home to a phone message from “Jeannie” that went
something like this:
“Well, you at least have power since the phone
machine is working. I have
lost power...no air conditioning...staying at the office as late as
possible...please tape “Buffy
the Vampire Slayer for me.”
All this heat, of course, is driving people into
the movie theaters to see Air
Conditioning I and II.
“Jeannie” saw The
Truman Show last Saturday with a couple of her knitting class
friends and pronounced it very good.
I spent most of Saturday morning working at the
office (where the air is not turned on over the weekends), then went to
see
Saving
Private Ryan, which is presented by
DreamWorks SKG.
A few years ago, a group of film makers, fed up with the studio
system, established their own production company, called DreamWorks SKG.
After a slow start, they have hit their stride and now would like
the ultimate sign of approval from the very establishment that they
turned against. In other
words, they want an
Oscar.
So they turned to co-founder
Steven Spielberg
and said, in effect, “Do something serious.”
Saving Private Ryan is
a serious, sober look at war.
In an interesting contrast, DreamWorks also produced
Small
Soldiers this summer.
In Small Soldiers, the soldiers fight because they are programmed to
fight. In
Ryan, the soldiers fight because they told to fight by superior
officers. Where, exactly, is
the difference?
In Ryan,
these soldiers are not
John Wayne heroes made of plastic.
They are very real people, convincingly portrayed by very good
(and deliberately little-known) actors.
These are ordinary people, just like the guys you work with every
day, who were suddenly handed guns and told to go fight for a good
reason.
After a short prologue, the movie dives into a
horrific presentation of the
D-Day invasion
at Omaha Beach in
Normandy.
It’s a deliberate attempt to shock the viewer with the genuine
violence of battle; to suck you in to the reality of what it must have
been like to live through (or die trying).
After that,
Tom Hanks, the only
real “name” performer in the film, gets assigned to go out and find the
last of four brothers who may, or may not, still be alive so that he can
be sent safely back to his grieving mother.
Along the way, he (Hanks) and his men get into battles and
arguments, exhibit bravery and cowardice, and some live and some die.
This is a big screen film.
You don’t want to wait for the video.
On a scale of 1-5, 3
Kleenexes.
And one thing you’ll learn for sure:
It’s impossible to sneak up on anyone in a
tank.
Ever
After. This is not
your grandmother’s
Cinderella.
There’s no
fairy godmother. Mice
don’t make the bed for you.
Birds don’t produce designer evening dresses.
In this version,
Drew Barrymore
plays the commoner, dubbed Danielle, as spunky and feisty.
She also tries to hold onto an English accent, which is a little
strange since the story is set in 16th Century
France.
Anjelica Houston
is superb as the wicked
stepmother,
determined to steal what little inheritance Danielle has for her own two
daughters. One reason for
the setting is that
Leonardo da
Vinci spent the last four years of his life at the court of France.
He’s the closest the movie comes to using “magic”.
As for the Prince, he gets to do more than usual.
Ordinarily, the Prince is a prince, he’s handsome, and he likes
women with small feet. Not
much to build a relationship on.
This time around, he and Danielle meet and get to know each other
long before the one-night-stand of a ball.
And yes, there is a glass slipper, of sorts.
If what you’re looking for is air conditioning and a pleasant
couple of hours, this will do it.
Love, as always,
Pete
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