I grabbed a free week of Disney+ so I could watch Get Back. It's very well done. It is also VERY long. But if you watch even an hour or two you will get a chance to see how these guys wrote songs. Really interesting. I don't think the collaborations that were done in later years when the four were rarely in the same studio at the same time, or in the early years when they would just crank out a song in one session but more like the time around Rubber Soul and Revolver. But you do get a pretty good look at how each of the four goes about song writing. The evolution of the song Get Back is also really interesting. And individual personalities are definitely laid bare.

While I have free Disney+ I had to watch The Mandalorian. It's not a bad series if you like Star Wars type SF. Acting is pretty good and of course the special effects, especially the practical stuff, is cinema quality, which is to say really good.. Story lines are kind of cliché and baby Yoda is way too cute at times but the overarching story of the two-season show will keep Star Wars fans watching.

 

Finished up Muscle Shoals. That was some music history lesson. I remember hearing Simple Man playing loud on a jukebox in a bar in a small town out in the sticks. It was the very first time I ever heard it . . . that was about 3 years ago. Instant love - the music and lyrics. I walked across the bar to find out who played it and told my daughter to buy me the Lynyrd Skynyrd CD. She had a hard time finding it but did. I can't say I cared all that much for the other songs on it except Sweet Home Alabama but Simple Man sure talked to me. Thanks Mike for a good lead.

Update - I found out the solution to my YouTube freeze could be solved by using Chrome instead of Safari. I may have to play the show again so I can enjoy it much more on the Mac.

2nd Update - I played it again, way better on the iMac than the iPhone. I have AdBlock on the Mac but it didn't stop the short ads - some I skip and some I could not. I really enjoy it.

 

Fighting Moderna booster side effects by the fire while missing the dog we lost last year.

Watched "the art of driving in the rain"

Kept me watching despite a little light on racing and predictable corn/

Pretty good, Have Kleenex ready

 

^^^ The book was better...but probably not if you've already seen the movie.

 

.Going to watch The Italian Job tonight.

 

You might enjoy this version.

Also, you might like Freebird as well.

 

North by Northwest-Thought by many to be one of Alfred Hitchcock's best but I don't know. Two hours of slow moving development for the last 15 minutes of excitement. Not the worst movie I've ever seen, but certainly not the best either. Starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason and directed by Alfred Hitchcock I expected more from this film. Filmed in 1959, it looks like 1959 and sounds like 1959. Even the bi-plane scene was disappointing. I'd never seen this movie before and had always wanted to see it. Once is enough.

 

City Lights-Filmed in 1931 in glorious black and white this silent film is one of Charlie Chaplin's best. It'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry and it'll make you happy. When it's over you'll wish it went a little longer. I love silent movies. There's something about the way the actors and actresses communicate using facial expressions and body language. Chaplin, of course, was a master of this. I've seen most of his movies before including this one, but I never get tired of seeing them. They tend to be an hour and a half long, give or take, just enough to love it without it dragging on. If you've never seen this movie, or other Chaplin movies like Modern Times or The Great Dictator, see them. If you've seen them see them again. You will be watching one of the geniuses of early cinema.

 

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain - An Amazon original staring Benedict Cumberbatch...maybe his best work to date. If you enjoyed his performance in The Imitation Game you will probably like this movie a lot. It is at times funny and at times dark, as was the life of the subject, artist Louis Wain.

 

Stagecoach-This 1939 movie was John Wayne's first important role. I'm not a big fan of John Wayne, but I never saw this movie before so when I found the DVD at the library I had to see it. Filmed in glorious black and white it is very typical of the old time Westerns. It certainly stereotypes Native Americans, but an awful lot of movies from that time do. Unfortunately, Hollywood didn't know any better. The acting is typical of the time as is the plot. There's some good action and some good character development even if some of it seems a bit contrived. You can see the roots of John Wayne's character in this film. In later films he's more mature, but his macho actions are very much the same.

Its not a bad movie but if you have to pay for it don't. If you have 96 minutes and nothing better to see, watch this movie otherwise watch something else.