Because I love to watch movies over and over (if they are good ones), I watched Dolores Claiborne again last night and can only say one word about Kathy Bates — WOW!

Everybody else in the movie was also outstanding.  That is the second reason why I loved this movie so much.  I do not know why I am rushing so hard to get this post out, I just am.  If things seem a little scattered, I apologize.

I would like to give my ultra-strong recommendation for anything that Kathy Bates has done in the movies.  When she plays characters that are somewhat twisted and slightly over the edge, she is at her absolute best.

My two highest recommendations for work are:

1.  Misery — she plays a manic depressive nutcase.  That’s all I am going to say.  You will forever be reminded of this movie whenever it rains.

2.  Dolores Claiborne — this movie was adapted from a Steven King novel.  It is not a horror movie, it is a tense drama.  Never piss off a woman that has not got much more to lose.

“Sometimes Dolores, sometimes being a high riding bitch is all a woman’ s got…”

Neither of these movies are brand-new, but they will stick in your head for a long time.  Get yourself a copy of both and enjoy.

Please take a look at the post below.  Basically, it is about being pretentious (in a roundabout way).  Well, I went back into the vault (my brain) and located the best response for Peter’s quotation in that video.

It is a choice piece from the movie Annie Hall <– (that is a link)

After you get disgusted with people like that, I will remind you how to feel with a scene from the movie Barfly:

I hate cops. Do you hate cops? 2) No, but I feel better when they’re not around.

Just replace the word cops with the word people.

That’s just the way I feel sometimes (not often), but sometimes

Think about being in college, a cocktail party or a coffee shop with people that love hearing the sound of their voice.  Well, that was brought together for me very clearly and humorously one night while watching Family Guy.  The Griffin’s  were about to drown when the subject of The Godfather came up as “The Perfect Movie”.  Peter did not agree. I could not stop laughing.  I also could not stop thinking about the scene.  I entered The Main Line of the scene (it is below) into Google and got a pile of responses.

“It insists upon itself…” (this is a link, but the color seems light)

The Urban Dictionary:

“Something most think is profound but in reality is pretentious and ostentatious.”

Enjoy the Scene

Shortly after moving into our house in 1996, our next door neighbor moved out.  The house remained empty for a number of months.  And then, Dick and Lynne Smith moved in.  They were quiet and incredibly nice people.  We immediately became friendly with them.  We could tell from the beginning how much they loved each other.

I forget how or who told me, but we learned that Dick was a well-known/famous Hollywood makeup artist.  I was quite intrigued and asked him about that when he stopped over one afternoon.

Dick Smith was definitely all that, and then some.  Dick did the makeup work for movies such as The Exorcist, The Godfather Trilogy and Amadeus (where he won an Oscar) and many many more movies.

One of our best memories was the night that Dick and some of my friends came over (all Godfather lovers).  We ate pizza from the famous New Haven pizzeria, Pepe’s and watched The Godfather on my back deck under the stars.  We paused the video many times for Dick to give us some “Inside” information about the filming and all of the stars.  That information will stay on a QT for now.

It was a truly awesome night that none of us will ever forget.  We told ourselves that we would do this again as many times as possible.

Our next movie night was inside because it was wintertime.  This time, we watched Amadeus.  Once again, we paused many times for commentary.  Unlike the first movie night, this time Dick brought his Oscar.  Each of us had to hold it.  He also brought the mold used on F. Murray Abraham’s face for making his character, Saliere, age in a natural way.  It was an awesome night once again.

Our next movie night included another friend and we watched The Exorcist.  Again, a whole pile of insider information was passed.  Nothing was gossipy, just very technical “How did you do that?” kind of stuff.

Dick is an incredibly detailed artist and a really nice guy.  Almost everyone on our street looks out for him.

You just never know who your new neighbor is.

Type Dick Smith on YouTube and you get…

or Google Dick Smith and you get…

or visit My Twitter page to see the Oscar and my dog

I always said that I will stop watching reruns from Seinfeld and King of Queens when they stop making me a laugh.  They have not, but I seem to have entered that realm by Comcast.

Comcast is my cable television provider and over the last month or so, TBS, (which is where I watch the above two shows) and TNT have been a problem in that TBS shows up just fine, but with audio from TNT.

Luckily, the Cable as well as Internet Universe is vast.  There are other shows that are funny and other means of watching, like the Internet.  Because of the TBS/TNT glitch, I am  a greater authority on Family Guy then I ever was.  I have also found and have become a big fan of Two and Half Men.

The major lemon has become a 10 gallon bucket of lemonade.

Keep on Laughing!

A friend told me about this idea that oranges symbolized death in the movie The Godfather.  I thought about that and had to agree.  I did some research on the Internet and found that that idea was around for a while.  Below is a link to the page where I found it.  This is interesting.

http://www.usefultrivia.com/movie_trivia/the_godfather_trivia_009a.html

That’s right

In The Godfather, when Don Corleone dies of a heart attack in the tomato garden, he has an orange in his mouth. The scene was actually improvised because the child actor playing Corleone’s grandson was having difficulty performing — he only reacted once Brando starting playing with the orange. However, the presence of the orange was no accident — oranges in all three Godfather movies suggest that a death may soon occur. For instance, Vito is shopping for oranges just prior to the assassination attempt on his life, Sonny drives past a billboard promoting Florida Oranges just before he is gunned down at the turnpike tollbooth, and Michael dies with an orange in his hand.

Hopefully, after you read this post, you will say: “I know who that is!”

I have not seen all of Frank Vincent’s work, but everything I have encountered is top notch and violent.  His characters are frequently the target of sadistic beatings and killings from the likes of Joe Pesci (“ Raging Bull”, “Goodfellas”) and an unknown mob underling (“Sopranos”), among others.

In “Raging Bull”, Vincent portrayed Salvy, a low-level mobster who thought a bit too much of himself. Joe Pesci’s character resolved this story’s subplot with a car door.

Vincent played a mobster named Billy Bats in “Goodfellas” – again a character with an attitude requiring adjustment.  Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro accomodated.  Beating, kicking, stabbing and ultimately finishing off his gurgling and begging self in the trunk of a car with several stabs and many gunshots (sound familiar?).

In the television series, “The Sopranos”, Vincent played Philly Leotardo, the under boss of Johnny Sac.  When Johnny died of cancer, Philly took over, quickly becoming arrogant and drunk with power.  As Philly stopped for gas, someone put a gun to his head and killed him.  Adding insult to injury, his SUV then ran over his head, completely squashing it (ewww!).

Vincent was also cast as Frank Marino in “Casino”, a mid-level gangster.  Frank Marino had a steady temperament this time and he was ordered to Clip Joe Pesci’s character.  Joe Pesci’s character most definitely went a little too crazy.  The big bosses asked Frank to take Joe Pesci out.  Marino did so by beating Joe Pesci to death with a baseball bat (revenge for previous movies?).

Salvy finally had his revenge.

We still don’t know who the heck Frank Vincent is, but at least we know some of his characters.

Did you ever ask yourself why the prettiest girls in movies like Braveheart have such clean, white and straight teeth?  I have and hope that this post will leave you saying hmm…

The Scottish Filth People that spent their days living in the muck and dirt did not have a method for brushing or even straightening their teeth and yet only the pretty girls came out with straight, white teeth.  Compare Muron and her mother and you’ll see what I mean.  Mom was definitely not what some would call a Looker.

I hope that you saw the movie “The Name of the Rose”, starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater.  It was a very good movie, but again, a girl that came from the filth took Christian Slater — under a wooden structure and made him a man.  A very good friend of mine coined a term after watching that scene — “I want a dirty girl too!”.  We were much younger then, but the memory remains.

There are many movies from the past and I am sure the future that will depict people in this manner.  I just want you to notice that and tell your friends because you are being influenced.  In this case, that’s not a bad thing.

Most everything in life can somehow or another be related to a scene or episode of the series Seinfeld. I will show you a number of examples and I hope that you will agree and add your own.  I have seen  and studied each episode more times than you can imagine.    Not for a Ph.D. thesis, but because it’s  just funny. Due to syndication, I am able to watch it two times per day.  Sometimes, it is on more than one channel so, maybe I can see it more than twice a day—if I can channel surf effectively. Yes, I do have a life.  I do tend to change the channel when some of the earlier episodes are on because they were just not good.  That does help when the show is on a number of channels. When I complete my work day, I want to relax a bit.

As an example from above, I feel like I have just described myself like the guy on Seinfeld that is a TV Guide maniac.

As I have always said, I will stop watching when I stop laughing.

OK, start  providing  some real-life examples.. Every time I meet someone for the first time and a small quirk or personality trait shows up (and it always does), I find myself doing the accentuated eye squint and/or the head tilt.  Come on, try to tell me that you don’t do that when you meet someone that does something a little bit strange to you.  Remember the girl that ate peas one at a time?

I was in an ambulance once going to the hospital and found myself thinking about and ultimately asking the ambulance drivers if they argue about Chuckles.  That is from an episode when George thought he was having a heart attack.  He went to a Holistic Healer and all hell broke loose.

Every single time I go to a store and see a senior citizen, I wonder if they are stealing batteries, books or some other sundry item..  Seinfeld did that to me.  I also try to envision them being caught and doing chin-ups in prison like Uncle Leo did and Robert De Niro before him in the movie Cape Fear.  That image was in the series and is forever embedded in my mind.

Did you ever meet a girl or a guy for a first date and things just did not work out.  When you told that person did they say “yeah, OK, fine – you have a big head”?  I am married now, but wish I said that a couple of  times.  We all do.

The homosexual and masturbation episodes.  Not going to touch them.  But – how many times have you said “Not That There’s Anything Wrong with That”.  I know you have.

The haircut episode was a mini opera and in my top five.  Did you ever think about leaving your haircutter?  You never want to make them mad.  Also, did you ever think about how Edward Scissorhands went to the toilet.  “How is he going to go to the toilet?”.  Thank you Uncle Enzo.

Did you ever see a baby that was ugly enough to make you shudder?  I never have, but the episode was funny.

One final example that I know everyone wishes they have used.  When the girl or guy you are dating breaks up with you.  Would you just feel great to take the breakup in total stride just like Jerry did.  “…  That’s okay.  Well it’s been nice dating you for a while…”.  “…  You see, things always seem to even out for me”.

I can go on and on and maybe I will write more as time goes on.  I hope you got somewhat of a chuckle out of this.

“That’s gold Jerry.  Gold”

I have seen the Godfather trilogy more times than you can imagine.  I just love it.  I do have an observation for people that have not seen it too many times.

Yes, they drink wine all the time.  Remember  Clemenza at the wedding, drinking wine from a pitcher. Wine was mostly a dinner/social beverage. “I like to drink wine more than I used to” – Vito.  My focus at this time is on the beverage Anisette.   It has greater meaning.  Often times deadly, some times to soothe one’s nerves in a stressful situation.

Below is  a description:

Anisette is a very sweet, colorless, licorice flavored Italian liqueur made from anise seed.

Seems like a nice beverage on a special occasion.  Well, it actually served many purposes in the Godfather trilogy.

1. If you were very upset, somewhat respected and not a threat, you would be given a taste of Anisette to soothe your nerves.  Remember Bonasera ,  the undertaker breaking down in front of Vito because his daughter was severely beaten and he wanted revenge. The Anisette was poured, Vito got his respect and vengeance would soon be had

2. If you were very upset and not respected, Anisette was used to calm you down and make you feel safe, like everything would be all right.  All you needed to do was provide some information to Michael.  Once Michael got his information, the Anisette was taken away.  It served its purpose.  Carlo was thrown out of the family business and ultimately  strangled.

3. Anisette was also used as a business meeting/social beverage.  Remember the meeting between Michael and Johnny Ola in Part 2. “Johnny, what can I get you?” ,  “Anisette” (said Johnny).

I hope you see that anisette came with a price tag.  Respect, Kiss the Ring, Your Life or the goal of a business meeting.

What a wonderful beverage, I think.