January 6 - The Private Life of Henry VIII

This dramedy movie has a scene that happens today – January 6. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.

THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII      

The film opens on the day of the execution of Anne Boleyn. Henry VIII is anxiously waiting for her to die, so he can marry Jane Seymour. As soon as she’s been beheaded, Henry marries Jane. Henry’s nurse puts a charm in the marriage bed to ensure a son. Whether this is the reason or not Jane Seymour does have a son, the future Edward VI, but she dies of complications. Pressure is soon put on Henry to remarry and have another son. The name of Anne of Cleves is brought up and Hans Holbien is sent to Germany to paint her portrait. Anne and Hans fall in love. Based on her portrait, Henry agrees to marry her. However, when Anne cannot cross the channel due to bad weather, Henry sneaks off to a midnight liaison with Catherine Howard. Catherine resists his advances and is saved when word arrives that Anne has crossed the Channel. Henry races to see her, but is vastly disappointed that she is not as attractive as her portrait. Henry has to go through with the marriage on January 6, 1540  [49:59 to 59:59]. The marriage is not consummated. Anne agrees to an annulment. Henry soon marries Catherine Howard. She has rejected love and is very ambitious. After marrying Henry, she realizes she is in love with Thomas Culpeper and they start an affair. Catherine’s lady-in-waiting, Lady Rochford, threatened with the rack tells all. Henry at first refuses to believe it. After Catherine is executed, Anne of Cleves points out Catherine Parr, and Henry marries her, but she turns out to be a nag.

A not very historically accurate, but amusing look at Henry VIII. It glosses over some of the more unpleasant aspects of his reign. More of a comedy rather than a serious look at this story.

Awards – This movie won the Best Actor (Laughton) Oscar. It was also nominated for Best Picture at the 6^th Academy Awards. 

Producers - Alexander Korda and Ludvico Toeplitz

Screenplay - Lajos Biró and Arthur Wimperis

Director - Alexander Korda   

Runtime – 1 hour 37 minutes 

Released – August 17, 1933

Starring –

Charles Laughton as Henry VIII

Merle Oberon as Anne Boleyn

Wendy Barrie as Jane Seymour

Elsa Lanchester as Anne of Cleves

Binnie Barnes as Catherine Howard

Robert Donat as Thomas Culpeper

January 5 - Father of the Bride (1991)

This dramedy has a scene that happens today – January 5. I hope you will like this film and watch it tonight.

FATHER OF THE BRIDE (1991)      

After his daughter’s wedding, George Banks thinks back over the events leading up to the ceremony. When his daughter Annie returns from studying in Rome and announces that she is engaged George does not take the news well. Even after meeting her fiancée Brian, George is still determined to dislike him. George’s wife Nina immediately likes Brian. When they meet Brian’s parents George starts snooping around their Bel-Air mansion and ends up falling into their pool.  George and Nina argue about the size of the wedding reception and hiring a wedding consultant. The price of $250 a head and 572 people start to make George go crazy. Also contributing to his mental instability is the fact that the wedding coordinator starts rearranging the house due to the fact that they decided to have the reception at their home. When he flees the house George ends up getting arrested for shoplifting. Nina makes him promise to behave before she will bail him out. When Annie and Brian hit a snag in their relationship, it is George who helps them get back together. On January 5, 1992, the day before the wedding, both George and Annie reflect back on their relationship. [1:14:12 to 1:20:59] A rare snowfall in Los Angeles plays havoc with many of the wedding preparations. In spite of a few hitches they survive  the wedding and reception. Annie calls from the airport to tell George she loves him.

A cute film. The director kept Steve Martin from going over the top, so this movie doesn’t degenerate into silliness. A good update of the 1950 version.

At 42:41 the wedding date is given as January 6. So the day before is January 5.

Producers- Carol Baum, Nancy Meyers and Howard Rosenman

Director - Charles Shyer

Screenplay - Charles Shyer, Nancy Meyers, Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett

Runtime – 1 hour 45 minutes

Released – December 20, 1991

Starring –

Steve Martin as George Banks

Diane Keaton as Nina Banks

Kimberly Williams as Annie Banks

George Newbern as Bryan MacKenzie

Kieran Culkin as Matty Banks

Martin Short as Franck Eggelhoffer

B.D. Wong as Howard Weinstein

Peter Michael Goetz as John MacKenzie

Kate McGregor-Stewart as Joanna MacKenzie

Richard Portnow as Al

January 4 - All I Wanna Do

This comedy movie has a scene that happens today – January 4. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.

ALL I WANNA DO                         

On January 4, 1963 Odette “Odie” Sinclair is delivered to Miss Goddard’s Prepatory School for Girls by her parents in order to separate her from her boyfriend, Dennis. She meets her roommates the smart, attractive Verena von Stefan and the promiscuous Trinka Parker, who both mock the school’s strict rules. Brownnoser Abigail “Abby” Sawyer takes a dislike to Odie. [2:00 to 9:00] Mr. Dewey, a teacher at the school invites her to New York ostensibly for a lecture.  The girls agree to forge a letter from Odie’s mother so Odie can leave campus alone to meet Dennis. The girls meet a group of strange local boys who call themselves “the Flat Critters”.  The girls induct Odie into their secret club “the Daughters of the American Ravioli” (DAR) where they pledge to help each other with their life goals. They try to get rid of Mr. Dewey by planting sexually oriented material in his briefcase, but Miss McVane, the headmistress, see through the plot. Miss McVane accidentally discovers the letter from Odie’s mother is a forgery and Odie is confined to campus for the rest of the year. The bulimic Theresa “Tweety” Goldberg, a member of the DAR, learns that the school is going to merge with the all-male St. Ambrose academy next year. The DAR splits, as only von Stefan and Maureen “Momo” Haines want to take steps to make the boys look bad during a visit by their choir to the Goddard school. Verena and Momo spike the punch at the dance. Tweety and Trinka change their minds about going co-ed after they see how badly the St. Ambrose boys behave. Verena keeps a promise to Odie by arranging for Dennis to sneak onto campus in a St. Ambrose uniform for a rendezvous.  Mr. Dewey interrupts them, and tries to make a move on Odie, but the “Flat Critters”, who have snuck into the school, take care of him. Momo gives the St. Ambrose boys ipecac, telling them it will help them sober up for their concert. Verena is caught by Abby making out with a boy in a dorm room. The boys all start hurling during the concert. Verena is expelled and Mr. Dewey is fired. In spite of the debacle, the trustees proceed with the plan to go co-ed. Odie raises such a stink by getting the students to barricade themselves in the dorms and calling the media that the trustees are forced to agree to a vote and school remains single sex. On screen squibs tell what happened to each of the girls. 

A pretty funny movie. Sort of a cleaner female version of Animal House.

Date given in film at 2:02-03

Producers - Nora Ephron, Ira Deutchman and Peter Newman

Director - Sarah Kernochan

Screenplay - Sarah Kernochan

Released - August 21, 1998

Runtime – 1 hour 37 minutes

Starring -

Kirsten Dunst as Verena von Stefan

Gaby Hoffmann as Odette Sinclair

Lynn Redgrave as Miss McVane

Rachael Leigh Cook as Abigail "Abby" Sawyer

Tom Guiry as Bradley 'Frosty' Frost

Vincent Kartheiser as ‘Snake’

Monica Keena as Tinka Parker

Matthew Lawrence as Dennis

Heather Matarazzo as Theresa 'Tweety' Goldberg

Merritt Wever as Maureen 'Momo' Haines

Robert Bockstael as Mr. Frank Dewey

Rosemary Dunsmore as Page Sawyer

Nigel Bennett as Harvey Sawyer

Michael Reynolds as Mr. Armstrong

Caterina Scorsone as Susie

Michael Barry as ‘Possum’

Zachary Bennett as ‘Skunk’

Aaron Poole as ‘Beagle’

Danny Smith as ‘Groundhog’

Noah Shebib as Conrad Bateman

Robin Dunne as Todd Winslow

Hayden Christensen as Tinka's date

Shawn Ashmore as St. Ambrose photographer

Jack Duffy as School Guard

January 3 - Rosewood

This dramatic movie has a scene that happens today – January 3. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.

ROSEWOOD                          

Rosewood is a mixed-race community in 1920’s Florida. A report is received that a Black man has escaped from the chain gang. A Black man named Mann arrives in the town  and becomes smitten with Beulah, the granddaughter of  Aunt Sarah the matriarch of the town. Fanny Taylor, who is White is having an adulterous affair and gets beaten up by her lover. Aunt Sarah and her granddaughter  Philomena see that the man is White. Fanny then creates a story that a strange Black man tried to rape her. This causes the interruption of a land auction where Mann was bidding against John Wright, the general store owner and the town’s leading White citizen.  After bloodhounds go to Sarah house her grandson Aaron is taken away by a White mob, but he is saved from lynching and jailed. The mob is not happy about this and go after Sam Carter, the local blacksmith, saving he gave a ride to Fanny’s assailant and he is lynched. Mann leaves the area, sure he will be the mob’s next target. During a birthday party the mob comes to Sarah’s house. When she tries to calm them she is shot. Her son Sylvester then kills two White men. Sylvester sends the women and children in the town into the nearby swamps to hide. The mob returns and burns down the house. On January 3, 1923 Mann escapes from a White mob that is stopped at the county line by other Whites. The mob returns to burn Black property in Rosewood and Mr. Wright reluctantly hides two Blacks in his house. [1:27:25 to 1:49:09]The next day Mr. Wright meets with Mann and devises a plan to get the women and children out of the area on the train. Mann survives an attempted lynching and gets the women and children to the train. As the Black men who have been hiding in the swamp try to board a White mob appears. Mann kills several of the White mob and the train escapes.      

A tragic, but true tale. It explores the stupidity of racism. A must see film.

At 1:20 it gives the date as Thursday December 31, 1922. At 1:27:31 it says it is Sunday, which would be the third.

Producer - Jon Peters

Director - John Singleton

Screenplay - Gregory Poirier

Runtime – 2 hours 20 minutes     

Released – February 21, 1997

Starring –

Ving Rhames as Mann

Don Cheadle as Sylvester Carrier

Jon Voight as John Wright

Esther Rolle as Aunt Sarah

January 2 - A Bright Shining Lie

This movie has a scene that happens today – January 2. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.

A BRIGHT SHINING LIE       

John Vann goes to Vietnam as a military advisor. He soon sees that the South Vietnamese Army is more interested in protecting the government of President Diem than in fighting the Communist Viet Cong guerillas. Even though he is married Vann begins an affair with a Vietnamese English teacher named Lee.  Vann wins the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions at the Battle of Ap Bac on January 2, 1963 [23:02 to 29:47] where he tried to draw enemy fire in his spotter plane. The VC shot at American helicopters from cover. Vann became livid when the local Vietnamese commander proved very reluctant to order his troops forward to save the crash-landed helicopters. When Vann persists in calling the battle a defeat, contrary to the official position, he is forced out of the Army and takes a job with Martin Marietta. His marriage is also on the ropes due to his affair, but he finally convinces his wife to stay by getting out of the army. However, a couple of years later he returns to Vietnam as part of the Agency for International Development. He immediately restarts his affair with Lee. After a confrontation with a corrupt South Vietnamese Colonel, the Colonel destroys the village where the incident occurred, causing many of the people there to become Viet Cong supporters. He works on trying to win over hearts and minds. When his mother dies he tells his deputy that he was born out of wedlock and did not like his mother. At her funeral, his wife tells him she is filing for a divorce. The war goes from bad to worse.  As soon as the Viet Cong are cleared from and area they return and the process has to start all over again. He marries Lee. Vann tries to warn about the upcoming Tet offensive but is ignored.  He is instrumental in re-taking the US embassy after it was overrun by the Viet Cong. General Wayne takes over in Vietnam. He puts Vann, even though he is a civilian in charge of an area in central South Vietnam. Vann plans a battle on Kontum to force the Viet Cong out of the hills where they can be destroyed by American airpower.  Vietnamese troops run when the Viet Cong attack, but the bombers save them.  The Viet Cong are defeated at Kontum, but Vann is killed in a helicopter crash.  

A very interesting movie. Tries to establish, successfully I think that a lot of the problem in Vietnam was poor strategy. Vann showed at Kontum that the South Vietnamese could defeat the Viet Cong.  

A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam by Neil Sheehan 

(Random House, New York, 1988) at page 204 and the film at 24:48-50 give date

Producer - Greg Ricketson

Director - Terry George

Awards – The film was nominated for the Outstanding Made for Television Movie at the 50^th Primetime Emmys.

Screenplay - Terry George

Runtime – 1 hour 58 minutes

Released – May 30, 1998

Starring –

Bill Paxton as John Paul Vann

Karina Logue as Barmaid

Amy Madigan as Mary Jane Vann

Donal Logue as Steven Burnett

Harve Presnell as MACV General

Robert John Burke as Frank Drummond

Bill Whelan as Ron Dray

Kay Tong Lim as Colonel Cao Huynh Van

Seng Kawee as Vietcong Leader

Vivian Wu as Lee

Van Thoa Trinh as VC Commander

Richard Libertini as Marriage Counselor

James Bigwood as Office Manager

Ed Lauter as General Weyand

Kurtwood Smith as General Westmoreland

Eric Bogosian as Doug Elders

James Rebhorn as United States Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker

Les J.N. Mau as Colonel Dinh

David Warshofsky as Terry Pike

Thanh Nguyen as ARVN Translator

Pichariva Narakbunchai as Annie

Kris von Habsburg as a US soldier

January 1 - Love in the Time of Cholera

This dramatic film has a scene that happens today – January 1. I hope you will enjoy this movie and watch it tonight.  

LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA             

In 1920’s Colombia, elderly Dr, Juvenal Urbino falls off a ladder and dies. Florentino Ariza, who learns of this while relaxing with his young mistress, goes to see Dr. Urbino’s widow, Fermina to profess his love for her, but she tosses him out.  We then flashback half a century to when the young Florentino sees Fermina and immediately falls in love with her.  He courts her and they fall in love, but when he proposes to her, Fermina’s father is outraged. Florentino is only a telegraph clerk and he wants her to marry a wealthy man. He sends Fermina to the country to live with her mother’s relatives. While waiting for her to return the country is racked by both civil war and cholera. Florentino vows to remain faithful to Fermina. However, when she does return Fermina gets sick. Dr. Juvenal Urbino comes to treat her and eventually court her. Fermina married Dr. Urbino. Heartbroken, Florentino’s mother arranges for him to be sent upriver on a steamship, ostensibly to conduct business for his uncle, whom he works for as a clerk, but in reality to take his mind off Fermina. On the trip he is seduced by a mystery woman and upon his return has an affair with a widow. Florentino begins to catalog all his sexual relationships in a sort of diary. While Dr. Urbino works to bring culture and modernity to the country, Florentino writes poetry and continues his affairs, including one with a married woman, who is killed by her husband when her husband finds out. On January 1, 1900, the country welcomes a new century. [1:32:51 to 1:33:31]. Dr. Urbino confesses to his wife that he has had an affair. After his rejection, Florentino continues to write letters to Fermina and she finally agrees to see him. They take a trip up the river and finally consummate their relationship.

A beautifully photographed film. However, the constant shifting of storyline weakens the film. It is an unusual movie that is worth watching at least once.

The date is given in the film at 1:33:27

Director - Mike Newell

Producer - Scott Steindorff

Screenplay - Ronald Harwood

Runtime – 2 hours 19 minutes

Released – November 16, 2007        

Starring -

Javier Bardem as Florentino Ariza

Giovanna Mezzogiorno as Fermina Daza

Benjamin Bratt as Dr. Juvenal Urbino

John Leguizamo as Lorenzo Daza

Fernanda Montenegro as Tránsito Ariza