Today is our first sunny day since April 15th. It's been a rather dark setting around here, though with very little rain. I am not caught up with all the blogging and writing. The road trip blog is complete in 5 parts, and I finished up the written volume, adding ten photos I had printed. Next up is the month-end book reviews for April. I am currently in the latter half of one of the longest single books I have ever read. It should be done on time to restart my Avon/Equinox reading quotient. I am down to only five authors now, so more and more of my time is being spent reading books off the shelf. Look for that update around the 30th. And this weekend also marks the start of the monthly film festival. My turn this month.
We recently watched two films. The first one was Shakespeare Wallah, a b&w early Merchant/Ivory production. It follows a small British company that travels around India performing plays by the bard. Mixed in with the trials and tribulations of the company is a love story between the daughter of the company's leader and a young Indian man. He is already involved with a woman who is a Bollywood actress. The film is quiet but at times penetrating, and is one we have wanted to see for some time. Recommended.
The Suspect is a film from 1944 direct by Richard Siodmak and starring Charles Laughton. Poor Charles. He is stuck in a loveless marriage to a shrew of a woman. When he meets a young woman and helps her out of difficulty, they become very good friends. The wife finds out and threatens to end it by informing the woman's boss, and also telling her husband's boss (I'm not sure what she had in mind for income once he was fired). That night she falls down the stairs, with a little help from Charles. Along comes a police inspector with nothing at all to do except put the pressure on Laughton for killing his wife, though he has no proof. When his alcoholic neighbour threatens to blackmail him, he, too, ends up dead. Poor Charles. It seems that he was left with little choice in either murder. Of course Hollywood morality does not let him get away with anything in the end, but this viewer certainly wishes that he would have. An odd film, greatly acted by Laughton (as usual).
Next came the first of Deb's two choices. Transit is a German film from 2018. It takes a book about escaping France during WW II and updates it to the present day, with another unknown fascist element taking control of the country. In retrospect, the modernizing of the novel doesn't quite work, though overall the film is quite good. Likely done as a budget consideration, it would have been much more expensive to try and recreate the early war years in Paris and Marseille. Definitely worth a look.
We are just out to start watching Deb's second film choice, which will be followed by my 3 festival picks. Speaking of festival picks, Deb's most recent short animated film has only had one rejection out of about ten submissions. No big awards yet, though I hope it picks up a few of them.
Deb's hip has been increasing bothering her over time. We went to her GP and he has sent her for x-rays, a bone density test, and a cortisone shot. All forthcoming. Hopefully something can be done besides taking pain meds.
And finally, it is time to get the lawn mower ready for cutting grass. It's time to contact my techie for an oil change and general tune up. And this Saturday Nathan should arrive with his team to clear my yard of storm debris from our late February ice storm.
Mapman Mike
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