The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
I would classify things in this category that were related to arts, literature, cinema, performance. Things that make us and the world better.
Pictures of Lay’s family over for the Labor Day weekend. We had loads of fun swimming, and making giant bubbles out of a soap solution. Bubbles are a favorite thing with the nieces, and giant bubbles just secured my place as favorite uncle for a while longer.
Read moreA group of mercenaries is hired to infiltrate a South American country and overthrow its ruthless dictator. Once the mission begins, the men realize things aren’t quite as they appear, finding themselves caught in a dangerous web of deceit and betrayal. With their mission thwarted and an innocent life in danger, the men struggle with an even tougher challenge — one that threatens to destroy this band of brothers. Barney Ross is a man with nothing to lose. Fearless and void of emotion, he is the leader, the sage and the strategist of this tight-knit band of men who live on the fringe. His only attachment is to his pickup truck, his seaplane and his team of loyal modern-day warriors. His is a true cynic who describes what he does as “removing those hard to get at stains.”
Read moreI couldn’t make any sense out of this film. I swear there is no story whatsoever. Do not let the trailers fool you, there is about 10mins total of action in this film. The bulk of this film is long shots of Clooney, coming to grasp with his life and going about completing his last job. Most “one last job” movies are high-energy action flicks driven by a veteran actor playing a character with a troubled history, but Anton Corbijn’s “The American” operates as a character-driven mood piece, a precise and quiet visual portrayal of a man trying to quit his dangerous profession who is constantly haunted and pervasively paranoid.
Read moreWork has been hectic, and I had to work all last weekend. I was traveling this week to Washington, D.C., and had an interesting meeting there at the Pentagon. But now, here’s something to watch that is just plain fun.
Read moreSunday evening the BBC, on their Proms show, celebrated the 80th birthday of Stephen Sondheim. There are several good videos of performances from the show, and while Send in The Clowns isn’t one of my favorite Sondheim songs, it is Judy Dench, and I just don’t know anyone with more class. And below is the very funny take on Everybody Ought To Have A Maid.
Read moreTwo teenaged children conceived by artificial insemination get the notion to seek out their birth father and introduce him into the family life that their two mothers have built for them. Once the donor is found, the household will never be the same, as family ties are defined, re-defined, and then re-re-defined. This was an excellent movie which I highly recommend with some caveats.
Read moreDom Cobb is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb’s rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible — inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming.
Read moreOkay, maybe it’s a little sappy, but it was a great book, and I teared up at a few parts when I read it all these years ago, but it is uplifting music. This is the song from when Johnathon finally figures out the trick for flying as he wants. Who wouldn’t want to soar with him.
Read moreI was messing around on YouTube the other day. Don’t ask why, but I happened to think about Johnathan Livingston Seagull. As you might imagine, the music all on YouTube. I haven’t thought about this for so many years, and can’t imagine what brought it to my mind, but I do still enjoy it. So over the next few weeks, I’ll post one every once in a while.
Read moreJonah Hex is a scarred drifter and bounty hunter of last resort, a tough and stoic gunslinger who can track down anyone… and anything. Having survived death, Jonah’s violent history is steeped in myth and legend, and has left him with one foot in the natural world and one on the “other side.” His only human connection is with Lila, whose life in a brothel has left her with scars of her own. Jonah’s past is about to catch up with him when the U.S. military makes him an offer he can’t refuse: in exchange for his freedom from the warrants on his head, he must track down and stop the dangerous terrorist Quentin Turnbull. But Turnbull, who is gathering an army and preparing to unleash Hell, is also Jonah’s oldest enemy and will stop at nothing until Jonah is dead.
Read moreI had to follow with the question mark. I love this country and principles on which it was founded, but we’ve moved so far from that. People wrap themselves in the flag and take up the name Christian, and then go out to preach hate. We no longer care for on another with commentators thinking its funny to tell hungry children to go look in dumpsters for food. American Ministers go to Africa to encourage African governments to adopt bills that invoke the death penalty for homosexuality. We fouled our air and soiled our beaches…maybe destroyed an entire ocean.
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