Jyms of Wyzdom for February 15, 2019

The Day After: I hope you all got as many valentines as you were expecting…there’s still time to write that naughty grandson out of your will! And I hope many of you handed over some shekels to OLLI so you could get a heart on the lounge door.

Films: Have I told you my standard for judging films? OK, here it is…a FILM is a well-made, thoughtful story on film made by a very good director, supported by a fine cast and, of course, a terrific story; a MOVIE has some of the same elements as a film, but may have been made strictly for the Saturday matinee crowd. All Marvel and movies based on video games fit firmly in this slot; a FLICK is what we used to call a “B” movie back when we had double features. They could be any genre but seem to circle around gangsters, noir, cheap westerns, pulp writing—that sort of thing. This is not to say that you can never go to a MOVIE or FLICK. Many of those get bad reviews, and yet, we can’t hold back, we must go see Spiderman’s latest caper, so then they fall into that secret category we call “guilty pleasures.”

This week, we got to see a FILM: “Green Book.” Terrific in every way, highly recommended, great reviews, high rating on Rotten Tomatoes…in short, GO! And don’t miss “Vice,” either. AMC is doing a weekend showing of all the Best Picture nominees, all worth seeing. Check out their website for details.

It’s taken me all my life to learn what not to play. [Musician Dizzy Gillespie]

Here we go again: This has been a week of doctors and tests. I knew I had carpal tunnel but didn’t know how bad it was—I’m way overdue for the surgeries, so #1 will be on Feb. 25. I may not be able to type for a couple of weeks so I may do another column next week as a fond farewell…not permanent. Meanwhile, Bonnie is still struggling with bad vertigo with good and bad days. Thanks for all your caring for us.

But what signifies our wishing? Things happen, after all, as they will happen. I have sung that wishing song a thousand times when I was young, and now find, at fourscore, that the three contraries have befallen me, being subject to the gout and the stone, and being not yet master of all my passions—like the proud girl in my country who wished and resolved not to marry a parson, nor a Presbyterian, nor an Irishman, and at length found herself married to an Irish Presbyterian parson. [Statesman Benjamin Franklin]

Weather Ups and Downs: Isn’t this a weird winter? We seem to switch, almost daily, from winter to spring and back to winter (repeat). The Weather Channel talks about this as one more definite symptom of global climate change. While we are having winter/spring, Australia is burning up and 120 degrees…and the polar ice and the Antarctic ice or breaking up in enormous chunks. It’s really hard to fathom the level of the oceans rising but, as islands in some places are close to disappearing and Miami floods more and more often…well, we’d best listen more closely to Mother Nature, yes? My PapaJack always said to “follow the money.” When would insurance companies refuse to sell insurance in flood plains, on coasts, on sand mountains, and such? Hmmm…

Age puzzles me. I thought it was a quiet time. My seventies were interesting and fairly serene, but my eighties are passionate. I grow more intense as I age. [Writer Florida Scott-Maxwell]

Winter Event: I hope you have marked your calendar for March 26. At 10 AM we will watch “2001: A Space Odyssey,” have lunch, then come back to watch “Forbidden Planet.” Both of these are FILMS, especially “2001” that was so entirely revolutionary as to seem like magic. It was made before CGI, anything digital, or wide-screen. The makers, led by Stanley Kubrick, were inventing the technology they needed to achieve every shot. Here’s a fun tidbit for you… Kubrick told an old Hollywood grandee that he wanted to make a scifi movie. The movie mogul scoffed and said, “Scifi? That’s just one step above PORN!” So Kubrick says to him, “OK, name me 2-3 scifi films that you think would be lasting monuments…” Mogul thinks for a second: “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” “Forbidden Planet…” and that’s all I can think of…” “2001” would change everything and both films prove that you can translate dreary old classics (The Odyssey, The Tempest) into vibrant cinema…that looks like it was made last week, not 50 years ago!

“Th-th-th-that’s all, folks!

Jim