Wednesday, February 27, 2008
One of my favorite movies - PAPER MOON (1973)
This turned a boring friday night into great fun :)
"Charming Depression-era road movie comedy."
One of my all time favorite movies is a classic by the name of Paper Moon—starring Ryan O’Neal & his then 10 yr old daughter Tatum. I recently picked this one up on an incredibly boring Friday night at the video store. Proceeding to the store with my 3 perplexed daughters, seeking a cartload of junk food and movie night munchies….we headed back home to watch this cute little classic. After 20 minutes into this film, my 16 yr old was deeply immersed in the movie enjoying the sight of 10 yr old Tatum effectively stealing every scene that she is in - and ringing gales of laughter out of my own teenage daughter. We had a fabulous night :)
"Charming Depression-era road movie comedy."
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Peter Bogdanovich ("Targets"/"The Last Picture Show ") directs this charming Depression-era road movie comedy. It's adapted from the novel "Addie Pray" (1971) by Joe David Brown and written by Alvin Sargent. Tatum O'Neal became the youngest ever Oscar winner for her Supporting Actress performance. It's one of the three best films Bogdanovich directed before his rapid decline, where he became box office poison.
In 1936, the nine-year-old Addie Loggins (Tatum O'Neal, in her film debut) is left an orphan in rural Kansas and her neighbors suggest that the likable but unethical Bible traveling salesman Moses Pray (Ryan O'Neal, Tatum's dad), her mom's ex-boyfriend, who was the only stranger attending the funeral and may or may not be her father, take her to St. Joseph, Missouri, to stay with her aunt. Moses soon finds he can't get rid of her and that she's no angel, in fact she's a brat who smokes, cusses, and is a kindred spirit when it comes to flimflam. They team up as con artists who prey on the gullible. Madeline Kahn sparkles in a supporting role as Trixie Delight, a sad-eyed carnival stripper who becomes Moses' romantic interest.
The black-and-white film (shot on location in Kansas and Missouri) is superbly shot by Laszlo Kovacs, giving it that needed midwest dustbowl look. It has Ford's lyrical mannerisms (even shows a shot from his Steamboat 'Round the Bend) and Hawks' ear for comedy, two of the directors the former film critic Bogdanovich said he most admired. To its credit, it avoids mush and sentimentality by being so cynical. It also includes music performed by Ozzie Nelson, Hoagy Carmichael, and Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra, and snippets from the radio shows of Jack Benny and Fibber McGee and Molly.
REVIEWED ON 10/19/2006 GRADE: B+
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ
Monday, December 17, 2007
Tasty Recipes—Mama Dip's Collard Greens
Recently, my beloved mother after many years absence has returned to her kitchen—and BOY oh boy has her collard greens and cornbread been missed!!!
Needless to say we, her children, are ECSTATIC at this wondrous turn of events!! I‘m sure you’re thinking perplexedly to yourself “ok, and….?” Fair enough, but perhaps a little history on this situation will help you, dear reader, to understand the reason for our wide toothy grins and ecstatic state of mind.
You see, my mother has suffered from declining health during the past 20 years following an injury and her retirement from her job with Caltrans. With the onset of diabetes, glaucoma, stress, depression and a painfully sensitive right hip, the toll on her overall health and frame of mind has been draining. Nearly 12 years ago Mama announced on Thanksgiving morning that this would be her last ….*gasp* LAST?? omg Ma, you have got to be kidding?!?!?!
No, I'm not. Can't do this anymore.
Mom was tired, she was burned out, no more energy to cook, clean or much of anything any longer. Well we understood, she was. Life had beat up my Mama - and badly. So we pitched in and between my sisters and I we did what we could and in the following years, thanksgiving happened as it always will - but it and any other meal just wasn't the same. Dad became accustomed to take out and fast food - gaining mucho weight in the process - but we all survived.
"So what happened to bring Mama back into the kitchen to do more than get a glass of water" you ask?
CAMWOA, that's what.
A few months ago during my continual networking and opportunity seeking, I came across an unknown but scheduled to launch Health Empowerment company called BinVita. BinVita was in the process of introducing their flagship wellness product called CAMWOA Am/Pm. I won't go into salesman mode and gush over this product here and now, you can learn all about it HERE -- but what I will gush over is the effect that it has had on my 70 yr old sickly, depressed and pain ridden Mama. After 3 days of taking just a single ounce of this tasty drink every morning and every night, my Mama was found in the kitchen at 7 am no less, energetically chopping up a sink load of collard greens - she had a huge pot on the stove, a full pork roast in the oven and a pan of delicious hot-buttered cornbread already done and on the stove top. Not only was she already in the kitchen with the coffee brewing, but she'd also finished her piano lesson, watered her plants in the garden, studied her bible lesson for her nightly meeting and won a couple of games of spider Solitaire. All this with a film of sweat on her brow and big smile on her face.
Mama is back in the kitchen :) thank you Lord for BinVita and CAMWOA ..... ps.....she's feeling so good that she's set herself up on AUTOSHIP so she will never run out of her CAMWOA (affectionately known as "the juice")
(^.^) T.Oh yes, the recipe for one of my favorite meals - COLLARD GREENS can be found on the Food Network website (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_11745,00.html) but here it is just in case:
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| 3 pounds collard greens 1 cup lean ham pieces 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 quart hot water 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)Wash the collard greens, remove the stems and any bad spots, then chop or shred. Cook the ham pieces slowly in the oil until crisp. Add the water and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the ham and set it aside. Add the salt, sugar and collard greens to the pot. Turn the heat to medium-high and bring the water to a boil. Stir, then turn the heat to low. Let the greens cook slowly, adding a little hot water if needed to keep them moist, until they are tender (about 45 minutes). Mash a stem to check for tenderness. Once the collards are tender, you can chop them smaller before serving if desired. Ham may also be added to the greens, if desired. | |||||||||
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