JACK'S BACK and this time it's personal.
DATE AND STATUS: Monday, October 30th, 2012, and I'm free again, YIPPEE!
JACK'S PREDICTION FOR "DOROTHY" ON THE CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION (CBC) SHOW, "OVER THE RAINBOW," IS DANIELLE, AT LEAST THAT'S MY PICK FOR THIS WEEK.
TODAY'S QUOTE IS PARAPHRASED FROM AN UNKNOWN AUTHOR:
"When one drinks with a friend, a thousand cups are not enough, but when there is no meeting of the minds, half a cup is frequently too much."
I'm back, yeah, it's me! After a two-week absence due to being in the hospital, I can finally blog again,and quote again. I can't tell you how much I missed seeing and reviewing movies. I've got so many films to catch up on, and I shall, first, let me give you a little update.
I'm not going to delve into the nitty, gritty, particulars of my hospital stay, (I don't think you would believe the details if I told you, anyway,) I do want to tell all of you, (and this is something you can take to the bank,) be very careful of your own household hazards, as you too, could end up in the hospital, and have an unforgettable experience. I ended up in hospital because I tripped on a carpet, so be careful.
One of the few good things that I gleaned from my hospital convalescence, was that I've been reminded how truly blessed I am to have such a huge, and well-informed circle of friends. My friends are the absolute best, and they're smart too.
The advice and caring that I received from my friends was timely, positive, and beneficial, and I owe all my comrades a huge amount of gratitude and respect. You know, I like to think that I'm no dummy, but, I recently learned that my friends have even more thetic information at their disposal, than I, and gosh darn it, that information came in handy.
As many of you know, friends can be your family, and if you are ever feeling that you're alone, and/or need advice, turn to your friends, (like I did,) because sometimes friends give advice, and you're likely to find out that you're not as alone and more valued than you thought you were.
"Friendship is a pretty full-time occupation, if you are really friendly with somebody, you can't have too many friends, because then, you're not just really friends."
This quote is from Truman Capote, I like it, because it made me think hard.
Here I go with my peripatetic prose again, I was advised by the hospital that I need to keep my left leg elevated as much as possible. Consequently, I cannot spend too much time on the computer, so I need to jump right into my review of the film, "When Harry Met Sally," as I can then lay down, and get my blasted leg up in the air.
Please, Patsy, no funny comments, it will deviate my thinking, and I'm already enough of a deviant in too many regards, so you, Patsy, (and anyone else whose thinking is a bit, risque,) hush up.
"When Harry Met Sally " is a love story with a form as old as the movies, and dialogue as sassy and fresh as a Joan River's act.
It's about two people who could be characters in a Woody Allen/Jack E. Taylor dream, if they weren't so sunny, and about how it takes them twelve years to fall in love.
Harry meets Sally for the first time at the University of Chicago in the spring of 1977, when they share the driving for a trip to New York (did I tell you that Mac and I are going to Manhattan on November 13th.) Both plan to have careers in the city, he's a political consultant, and she is a journalist.
Presumably, Harry and Sally, are both successful, they live in those apartments that have pictures in Architectural Digest, and the only people that can afford that housing are in the movies, but their professional lives are entirely off-screen. We see Harry and Sally only at those intervals when they see each other.
For example, they meet several years later at LaGuardia Airport. Sally's with a new boyfriend, the boyfriend Harry recognizes, she's another story. Later, they meet again, and at this time they're both in relationships, when those relationships fail, for the both of them, they meet, yet again.
Harry and Sally keep on meeting until they realize that they like one another, and that they've become friends, even though on their very first cross-country trip, Harry warns Sally that true friendship is impossible between a man and a woman, which really gets Sally's goat, mine too, because I believe, and know, men and woman can be friends.
The movie apparently believes that the best way to get rid of sex is to get married, since married people always seem too tired for sex. That, and other theories about sex and relationships are tested as if Harry and Sally were proving grounds for the Oprah magazine, until finally, tired of fighting, they admit that they do love one another after all.
Sally is played by Meg Ryan, and Billy Crystal is Harry, they make a good movie couple because both actors are able to suggest genuine warmth and tenderness. This isn't a romance of passion, although passion is present, but one that becomes possible only because the two people have grown up together, have matured until they can finally see clearly what they really want in a partner.
Nora Ephron, who wrote the script, gives dialogue that represents the way people would like to be able to talk. It's witty and epigrammatic, and there are lots of lines to quote when you're telling friends about the movie. (Some of you may know that I love quoting lines from movies, in fact, I probably reference too many bad moments from too many films!)
The dialogue in the film would defeat many actors, but Ryan and Crystal make it work; their characters are smart, and quick enough to almost be witty. It's only occasionally that the humour is paid for at the expense of credibility, as in a hilarious, but unconvincing scene where Sally sits in a crowded restaurant, and demonstrates how to fake an orgasm. I laughed, (I suspect everyone laughs,) but somehow I didn't think Sally, or any woman, would really do that.
"When Harry Met Sally " was directed by Rob Reiner, Meathead of "All in the Family," whose credits now qualify him as one of Hollywood's very best directors of comedy. Reiner's films include "Misery," "Stand by Me," and "The Princess Bride." Each film is completely different from the others, and each one is successful on its own terms.
This is Reiner's most conventional film, in terms of structure, and the way it fulfills our expectations. What makes "When Harry Met Sally" special, apart from the Ephron screenplay, is the chemistry between Crystal and Ryan.
Meg Ryan is an open-faced, attractive, bright-eyed blond; Crystal's a gentle, skinny man (like I used to be,) with a lot of smart one-liners (at least, I still have moments where I stun people with my one-liners.) What they both have (to repeat) is genuine warmth and sincerity.
In Billy Crystal's previous film, the underrated "Memories of Me," Crystal demonstrated, and it's here again, this time, in scenes when he visibly softens when he sees that he has hurt her. Billy Crystal is one of the rare actors who can make an apology convincingly on the screen.
Meg Ryan has a difficult assignment in this movie, and she spends most of the movie convincing Harry, and herself, that there's nothing between them, and she has to let us see that there is something, after all.
Harry and Sally are aided, and I feel hindered, in their romance by the efforts of their best friends Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher.
Harry and Sally fight happiness every step of the way, until it finally, and predictably, wears them down. This is a funny film, and worth your viewing time.
