Saturday, January 8, 2022

And This Is Why...



 ...I'm a summer person...oh, it's pretty for sure, lovely to look at...but it's also cold and inconvenient.

Ever notice you don't have to bundle up, throw salt down and shovel sunshine to get out of your driveway in the summer?

But snow and ice, on the other hand...

See where I'm going with this?

And the stuff's heavy, too.  Here's our gazebo in the summer...


...and here it is after the most recent snow storm...

add sugar, vanilla, fold in cream, beat until firm, then grab an enormous spoon and enjoy

I rest my case.

So until they find a way to change the channel from this...


...to this...


...without having to wait 5 months...yeah, I'm a summer person.


Recently watched the movie...


...starring Renee Zellweger, who won Best Actress at the 2019 Academy Awards for her efforts.

And yes, she did actually sing in the movie.

The movie covers the last year of Judy Garland's life in 1969, when at age 47 she finally succumbed to the ravages of drug addiction.

But whence came that addiction?

Through flashbacks to Judy's youth as a teen star at MGM, we learn she was force fed drugs by her adult handlers:  uppers to help her work 18 hour days and curb her appetite, and downers to help her sleep at night.

As such, this is a depressing movie as we follow this incredibly talented wreck of a human being stumbling toward her inevitable, inglorious end.

So...why watch it?

Two reasons:  Darci Shaw and Renee Zellweger.

Shaw - who was mostly overlooked in all the effusive praise heaped on this movie - plays the teenage Judy in flashbacks to her days at MGM...


...and it is largely through her excellent interpretation that we learn why the adult Judy ended up staggering to her early death.

that's a teenage Garland on the left, Shaw on the right

For my money, Shaw should have won Best Supporting Actress, for without her efforts Judy would have been nothing but a dispiriting look at yet another drug addicted Hollywood has been.

But giving credit where it's due, the hype you may have heard is true:

RZ gives a tour de force performance as the jaded, run down and world weary Garland.



Except for one patently ridiculous, completely fictional and totally irrelevant scene where director Rupert Goold obediently and reverently bows the knee before the altar of wokeness - you'll know it when you see it - this is a worthwhile movie.

No, it won't leave you laughing nor whistling a happy tune, but it should spur admiration and sympathy for a world class talent who brought happiness to millions while experiencing far too little of it herself.


As another successful foray into blogging excellence chugs to its graceful finale...

scene from Buster Keaton's 1927 silent film "The General"

...we here at the Atomic Monster Cafe extend our sincere thanks for your faithful if inexplicable patronage.

later, mcm fans...

* Crass Commercialism Corner *

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Sunday, January 2, 2022

Let's Hope...

Myrna Loy asleep at midnight

...2022 is better than its predecessor. 

Daren't say it can't be worse; that's a fool's invitation to disaster.

For our part, we shared lunch and good conversation with some friends on New Year's Eve day, then did our usual that night...enjoyed When Harry Met Sally...


...watched the ball drop, sipped champagne and greeted the new year with a midnight kiss.


In spite of our pleasant beginning, in our current political environment, where corruption and incompetence rule the day, I can't say I'm hopeful for the coming year.

As a noted pundit recently remarked:

"Never in history has such a mediocre, self-important and ungracious generation owed so much yet expressed so little gratitude to its forebears."

    - Victor Davis Hanson


As he pointed out, they riot in the streets, pull down statues of men far more accomplished than they'll ever be, and shrilly obsess over "infrastructure".

But as they self-righteously condemn previous generations, where are their great achievements?

What accomplishments can they point to that compare with the Hoover Dam, completed in 1935?



Our interstate highway system constructed in the 1950's and 60's?



Putting a man on the moon in 1969 with less computing power than they carry around in their pocket today?



All of those amazing feats were accomplished when we were a meritocracy.

Now, devoid of notable achievements yet disdainful of the accomplishments of their moral, intellectual and spiritual superiors from generations past,  the current flock of twits in power are intent on reducing us to race based tribalism and quotas based on skin color.

Thankfully, even in these dark days as we witness the purposeful dismantling of the American way of life, we know God is still in control.

There will be challenges ahead; there always are.

May we face them with courage and fortitude.


Happy New Year, mcm fans...