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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:20:42 GMT

It was ten years ago today that Frank Sinatra passed away. The Post Office has released a gorgeous stamp honoring Ol' Blue Eyes (have you picked yours up yet? ).

I'm a little late to be blogging about TCM's Sinatra film offerings today, but I'll mention the ones I'm most interested in.

The Tender Trap (1955):

Charlie Reader (Frank Sinatra) is an agent in New York who lives the high life as a bachelor dating a series of beautiful women. Longing for the stability of married life, he runs into Julie Gillis (Debbie Reynolds), who is determined to get married but has little tolerance for Charlie's romantic liaisons. Unable to make up his mind, Charlie proposes to Julie and Sylvia (Celeste Holm) at the same time, and the requisite comic complications ensue.

I started this movie but haven't finished it yet (got distracted by American Idol - can someone please explain to me the appeal of David A.??? I don't get it...). However I'm loving Sinatra in the film so far...I'll probably be sick of the title song by the time I watch the entire movie...it gets quite a workout, LOL. The Tender Trap is available as a single-disc DVD and as part of the Frank Sinatra: The Golden Years DVD boxed set.

High Society (1956):

Tracy Lord is a recently divorced Newport socialite whose upcoming marriage with upper-crust stiff George Kittredge is making the headlines. Mike Connor is a reporter set to cover the wedding and C.K. Dexter-Haven is her ex-husband, ostensibly there to attend the Newport Jazz Festival, but who evidently still carries a flame for her. Tracy's high-class demeanor has nary a crack in it until Connor gets her drunk and the two of them take a midnight swim.

This is one of my all-time favorite musicals. It's a musical remake of the Katherine Hepburn classic The Philadelphia Story...and honestly I prefer the remake (I know, I'm sure that's the equivalent of classic movie sacrilege!!!). But seriously, who could ask for anything more than to have Bing Crosby and Sinatra paired on-screen with fabulous Cole Porter songs? Their duet of "Well Did You Evah?" kicks some serious butt. Sinatra is in his prime as jaded reporter Mike Connor - and when he thaws ice queen Grace Kelly by serenading her with "You're Sensational" and "Mind If I Make Love to You?"...Oh. My. WORD. There's just not words to describe the sublime perfection of those performances. High Society is available on DVD.

Do yourself a favor and skip The Pride and the Passion...unless you need a really good laugh. Or it might work as a possible cure for insomnia. I'm just sayin'...

The last film I want to highlight is A Hole in the Head (1959):

Since the film was directed by Frank Capra, and was advertised as a warm family comedy, audiences may have expected a lighthearted romp. The comedy is there, and the warmth, but there is a darker, desperate undercurrent in the film, which suits Sinatra's edgy personality. He plays Tony Manetta, a small-time promoter running a shabby hotel in Miami's South Beach neighborhood, a run-down area at the time. The widowed Tony is raising a young son (Eddie Hodges) and dreaming of creating a Disneyland-type resort. But he's about to lose his hotel because of his irresponsible ways, and his stodgy businessman brother (Edward G. Robinson) is after him to give up his freewheeling life and settle down with a respectable widow (Eleanor Parker).

I absolutely adore this movie. It's sweet and funny without being sappy or anything like that. Definitely worth checking out...I have the DVD but haven't watched it in ages...maybe I can revisit this film this weekend.

CFBA: Healing Promises by Amy Wallace

Wed, 14 May 2008 18:42:26 GMT

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Healing Promises

(Multnomah Publishers - April 15, 2008)

by

Amy Wallace

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Amy Wallace is the author of Ransomed Dreams, a homeschool mom, and a self-confessed chocoholic. She is a graduate of the Gwinnett County Citizens Police Academy and a contributing author of several books, including God Answers Moms’ Prayers and Chicken Soup for the Soul Healthy Living Series: Diabetes. She lives with her husband and three children in Georgia.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Facing a new threat.

When FBI Agent Clint Rollins takes a bullet during a standoff, it might just save his life. But not even the ugly things he’s seen during his years working in the Crimes Against Children Unit could prepare him for the overwhelming powerlessness of hospital tests revealing an unexpected diagnosis. If only Sara weren’t retreating into doctor mode…he needs his wife now more than ever.

Frozen in fear.

Sara Rollins is an oncologist with a mission–beating cancer when she can, easing her patients’ suffering at the very least. Now the life of her tall Texan husband is at stake. She never let the odds steal her hope before, but in this case, the question of God’s healing promises is personal. Can she hold on to the truth she claimed to believe?

Faith under fire.

As Clint continues to track down a serial kidnapper despite his illness, former investigations haunt his nightmares, pushing him beyond solving the case into risking his life and career. Clint struggles to believe God is still the God of miracles. Especially when he needs not one, but two. Everything in his life is reduced to one all-important question: Can God be trusted?

If you would like to read the first chapter, go HERE

Review: My Soul to Keep by Melanie Wells

Mon, 12 May 2008 21:11:06 GMT

My Soul to Keep (Dylan Foster Series #3)

By: Melanie Wells

Publisher: Multnomah

ISBN: 9781590524282

Summary:

As nasty as I knew Peter Terry to be, I never expected him to start kidnapping kids. Much less a sweet, funny little boy with nothing to protect him but a few knock-kneed women, two rabbits, and a staple gun…

It’s psychology professor Dylan Foster’s favorite day of the academic year – graduation day. And her little friend Christine Zocci’s sixth birthday. But the joyful summer afternoon goes south when a little boy is snatched from a neighborhood park, setting off a chain of events that seem to lead nowhere. The police are baffled, but Christine’s eerie connection with the kidnapped child sends Dylan on a chilling investigation of her own. Is the pasty, elusive stranger Peter Terry to blame? Exploding light bulbs, the deadly buzz of a Texas rattlesnake, and the vivid, disturbing dreams of a little girl are just pieces in a long trail of tantalizing clues leading Dylan in her dogged search for the truth.

Review:

In My Soul to Keep, the third spiritual thriller featuring psychologist Dylan Foster, Melanie Wells brings her reluctant heroine full circle as Dylan is forced to confront her most complex battle yet against the demon Peter Terry. This time, Peter Terry’s attacking the children in Dylan’s life as Nicholas, the son of her friend Maria, is kidnapped. Six-year-old Christine, a child with astonishing spiritual acumen, witnesses the kidnapping and is emotionally traumatized. But her faith and spiritual depth may be the best link Dylan has to discovering the kidnapped child’s whereabouts. On top of this tragedy, Dylan’s personal life hits new lows as her distinct lack of “people skills” repeatedly threaten to drive away the small group of friends who put up with her in spite of her prickly demeanor.

Of the three novels in the series, this book is the least successful as a standalone, so I have to stress reading the books in order (the first, When the Day of Evil Comes, and then its sequel, Soul Hunter). However, not working as well as a standalone novel in this case should only serve as incentive to read the entire series. Wells has hit her stride and the canvas on which she paints Dylan’s story has become increasingly rich and complex with each successive outing. I would have liked to have seen more insight into Maria’s response to her son’s kidnapping – Wells gives us more of Liz’s perspective (Christine’s mother) as the worried parent of a hospitalized child. I think it would have made for an even more compelling read if a bit more attention had been devoted to Maria’s viewpoint in the middle section of the novel. (I could also do with a little less product placement - you can only name so many name-brand cleaning products without having Dylan's cleaning obsession cross over from quirky to annoying and distract from the narrative.) However, the bottom line is that this is Dylan’s story, and having her most vulnerable friends – young children – attacked sends Dylan reeling. Her episodes of spiritual and self-examination are not only insightful but brutally honest.

At the time of this review, My Soul to Keep is the final Dylan Foster novel. With this series, Melanie Wells has introduced an unforgettable heroine – a sassy, irreverent, smart aleck who’s thoroughly relatable, modern, and genuine. Wells has brought the spiritual realm into the forefront of her characters' everyday lives, driving home the reality of spiritual warfare in a real and compelling way. She has a knack for building suspense and terror out of everyday circumstances and situations which makes her novels chilling and compulsively readable in a way that’s reminiscent of the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. Each novel in this series comes highly recommended.

Read my review of Soul Hunter
Read my review of When the Day of Evil Comes

This week in Frank (Sinatra)

Sun, 11 May 2008 17:50:16 GMT

TCM is continuing their month-long tribute to Frank Sinatra Sunday and Wednesday. Here's tonight's schedule:

Frank Sinatra: The Man and His Music, Part II (1966) - Not much to say here except Sinatra sings = bliss.

It Happened in Brooklyn (1947): I'm most excited about seeing this film as it's never aired on television (to my knowledge anyway) in recent memory or been available on DVD (that changes Tuesday). Here's the story summary from TCM:

American jazz musician Danny Miller (Frank Sinatra) is serving in England shortly before the end of World War II, where he is asked by a duke to provide training for his son, classical musician Jamie Shellgrove (Peter Lawford). Upon returning to Brooklyn, he falls in love with Anne Fielding (Kathryn Grayson), a singer. The two of them help various characters pursue their musical dreams, including Danny's old friend Nick Lombardi (Jimmy Durante) and Leo Kardos (Billy Roy), a talented but penniless young pianist. Complications ensue when Jamie moves to Brooklyn to pursue a career in songwriting and falls in love with Anne as well.

Frank sings "Time After Time" - classic song!! Plus I adore Kathryn Grayson, she was always so classy on-screen...so I'm looking forward to seeing this film for the first time. It Happened in Brooklyn is available on DVD Tuesday as a single-disc and as part of the Frank Sinatra: The Early Years boxed set.

Guys and Dolls (1955):

I will be the first person to admit that this is so NOT the best example of the movie musical out there. And there would be a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth if I let myself dwell on the film that could have been if Gene Kelly had been released from his contract and allowed to take the role of Sky Masterson (which went to Brando). However, this movie still manages to kick serious butt and ranks as one of my all-time favorites, in spite of being hampered by poor Brando's lack of serious vocal chops. First of all it's based on terrific source material - Damon Runyon's unforgettable characters and their hilarious escapades (HIGHLY recommended reading if you can find a copy of his short stories). Second, the marvelous Frank Loesser songs. They are INCREDIBLE. "The Oldest Established (Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York)," "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat," "Guys and Dolls," "Adelaide," "Sue Me"...I could go on and on and on about how much I love this music. But I won't. G&D gave Sinatra one of his most iconic film roles ever. He was Nathan Detroit. Guys and Dolls is available on DVD.

The Kissing Bandit (1948):

I haven't seen this movie in YEARS. It's one of Sinatra's cheesiest to say the least (if you couldn't guess that by the poster, LOL!). But it's good cheesy fun, haha. You can buy The Kissing Bandit Tuesday as a single-disc DVD or as part of the Frank Sinatra: The Early Years DVD boxed set.

Till the Clouds Roll By (1946): This is one of those highly fictionalized musical "biopics" Hollywood churned out during the golden age of the movie musical. Never really a biography, they were more of an excuse to gather together as many musical stars as possible in one film. This one's notable for Sinatra's rendition of "Ol' Man River" at the film's climax. I'm not really sure why this movie is "Sinatra" enough to show during a film festival celebrating his work, since as I recall he only appears in that one sequence. However, Sinatra's performance of "Ol' Man River," inspite of a slightly surreal aspect, is considered somewhat important by certain Sinatra film buffs. It's being re-released as a single-disc DVD Tuesday (which is crazy because it's already available) and as part of the Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory, Vol. 1 boxed set.

Robin Hood: Child Hood

Sat, 10 May 2008 23:39:27 GMT

*spoilers*

While last week's episode was a fun and hilariously random, this week's ep was oh so much better.

This ep was all about Guy (yummy! ) and his plan to have indestructible armor made, which the Sheriff wants mass produced for the Black Knights. But really, who cares? The whole save England from evil bit just pales when compared to all of the FABULOUS, AMAZING screen time Richard Armitage gets in this ep. Wowzers. Thankfully, I found the best clip on YouTube...so here ya go:

And here's another lovely pic of Guy that I stumbled upon this evening...

Gotta love that. I need a copy hanging on my wall...LOL!

And here's a completely gratuitious pic of Will (Harry Lloyd) that I'll end with since I'm incredibly ticked off at Allan A. Dale.

Kings Go Forth

Thu, 08 May 2008 22:16:29 GMT

So I just finished watching Kings Go Forth...recorded it when TCM aired it as part of their month-long tribute to Ol' Blue Eyes. I can't stand it when I get invested in a movie and then I don't get ENOUGH CLOSURE!!!

Here's part of the summary of the film from TCM:

The first of two films Sinatra made in 1958, Kings Go Forth might be seen as an attempt to capture some of the glory of From Here to Eternity (1953). Both are set during World War II and feature some morally dubious characters, but beyond that, there's not much to link the two.

Sinatra isn't playing a supporting character in Kings Go Forth. Instead he's front and center as Sam Loggins, a lieutenant fighting the Germans in southern France late in the war. With his radio operator buddy Britt Harris (played by Tony Curtis), Loggins makes time for a little high life along the Riviera where he meets and falls in love with French resident Monique (Natalie Wood). Loggins is surprised to learn that Monique is actually a mulatto, even more surprised when she falls in love with Britt. Of course Loggins isn't going to give up so easily, even for a buddy.

Sinatra turns in a nicely nuanced performance as Loggins. He plays tortured, angst-ridden souls really well. Not a war film per se...more of a romance with a war story thread to it if that makes sense. The pace is kind of slow but I found the film absorbing. It's an interesting look at views of interracial relationships and how those dynamics were changing in the mid-20th century. Since this was a changing dynamic, that probably explains the film's frustratingly ambiguous ending...the production code or producers or something couldn't let the movie commit 100% to showing the Sinatra-Woods relationship play out on film. Not one of Sinatra's best films overall, but definitely on of his most solid, understated performances.

CFBA: The Warriors by Mark Andrew Olsen

Wed, 07 May 2008 22:46:46 GMT

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
The Warriors
(Bethany House April 1, 2008)
by
Mark Andrew Olsen

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

MARK ANDREW OLSEN whose novel The Assignment was a Christy Award finalist, also collaborated on bestsellers Hadassah (now the major motion picture: One Night With the King), The Hadassah Covenant, and Rescued. His last novel was the supernatural thriller The Watchers.

The son of missionaries to France, Mark is a Professional Writing graduate of Baylor University. He and his wife, Connie, live in Colorado Springs with their three children.

ABOUT THE BOOK

A failed recon mission deep in the tunnels of Afghanistan has provoked a demonic onslaught that had been brewing for centuries. The mission's sole survivor is reformed black ops assassin Dylan Hatfield, and he once again teams up with Abby Sherman, now at the helm of the Watchers, an ancient spiritual force. Uncovering and preventing a secret wave of death whispered across cyberspace and threatening to be unleash against civilization will require another level of spiritual power and expertise--the Warriors.

Journeying across the Alps of Europe through the multilayered history of warfare in the unseen world, Dylan and Abby uncover an age-old stone engraving that rouses the church's Warriors to action, placing them dead center in one of the fiercest spiritual battles of their time!

And once again they are reminded: This is all part of a vast and perpetual war, a war beyond all human conflicts, one that has engulfed heaven and earth since before the dawn of history....

Abby Sherman is headed back to Israel, where a Watcher, the Sentinel of Jerusalem, lies dying. In her last breaths the old woman tells Abby of an ancient document prophesying humanity's full-scale entry into the ongoing conflict between armies of heaven and fallen angels.

Dylan Hatfield has decided to answer a summons from his old boss and join a secret operation, its mission to reconnoiter the Afghani tunnel complex from which Osama bin Laden escaped in 2001. What he discovers sears his very soul and likely will end his life.

Abby learns of the peril facing Dylan, and she sends out a call for intercession on his behalf. Her frantic email message sets in motion a series of harrowing events, propelling the two on a new mission and quest--one where the stakes are the lives of millions!

The Warriors is packed with high-octane action, featuring exotic international locales, with characters in a clash against spiritual "principalities and powers" with eternal consequences, The Warriors is a story that will enthrall, enlighten, and engage its readers.

If that piques your interest, you can read the first chapter HERE

"Olsen, one of the better writers in this subgenre, delivers powerful, action-packed plots that delve into mystical paranormal worlds."
~Library Journal, Feb. 2008

"Olsen delivers an entertaining thriller likely to be enjoyed especially by fans of the spiritual warfare genre."
~PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Click here to read my review of The Watchers, the prequel to The Warriors.

This has just made my day...

Wed, 07 May 2008 19:30:33 GMT

Heck, it's made my month. I've got second row, stage center tickets to see Chris Botti next month!!

Cranford Part One

Tue, 06 May 2008 22:24:50 GMT

I am absolutely loving Cranford. It's the first true ensemble drama I've seen on Masterpiece Theatre in, oh...I don't know when. It's beautifully filmed, wonderfully acted, and utterly and completely absorbing.

Cranford is based on three of Elizabeth Gaskell's novels: Cranford, My Lady Ludlow, and Dr. Harrison's Confessions. I "discovered" Ms. Gaskell when I was encouraged to watch the miniseries based on her novel North and South (thank you, Lori!) because a lot of Pride and Prejudice fans like it (and with good reason I might add, LOL!). I mean anything from the woman that launched my now-epic Richard Armitage obsession has to be good, right?

I'm happy to report that Ms. Gaskell & the BBC didn't let me down. LOL! However, it's worth pointing out that Cranford is a bit of a change of pace from the more "epic" romantic style of Gaskell's North and South and Wives and Daughters. It's very episodic, which took a little getting used to for me. However, once I got in that rhythm, I found the show riveting. Cranford is a story of the heartaches and triumphs of everyday life, and runs the gamut from laugh-out-loud moments (the cat and the lace collar anyone? I take that back...maybe that was more gross...LOL!) to the tragedy of coping with heart-rending and unexpected loss. About the latter - I did think that sometimes the pace of the show as just a tad too abrupt, especially when it comes to the losses that were stacking up in part one. I would've liked to have seen a little more context if that makes sense? There were just moments that you realized there was so much crammed into each episode that sometimes the pace felt a bit rushed IMO.

Probably my favorite aspect of Cranford is how it illuminates an entirely different way of life so beautifully and heart-rendingly. Things we take for granted today, like a woman attending a funeral, or a broken arm being re-set instead of amputated, were all handled completed differently in the nineteenth-century. The social parameters, and how the townsfolk operated within them, are sometimes a shocking thing to witness and a startling reminder of how much we take for granted today.

The cast is absolutely STELLAR. I don't think I've ever seen a miniseries - even the epic Bleak House - that jammed so much British acting talent into one production.The show is anchored by Eileen Atkins and Judi Dench as sisters Deborah and Matty Jenkyns, and that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Claudie Blakley as Martha played Charlotte Lucas in Pride and Prejudice (2005).
Andy Buchan as Jem Hearne played St. John Rivers in Jane Eyre.
Deborah Findlay as Miss Augusta Tomkinson is a veteran of Wives and Daughters and Jane Eyre.
Simon Woods as Dr. Frank Harrison played Mr. Bingley in Pride and Prejudice (2005) and also appeared in Penelope this spring (on DVD in July!).
Lesley Manville as Mrs. Rose played Margaret's mother in North and South.
Julia Sawalha as Jessie Brown played Lydia in the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice and also appeared in two episodes of Horatio Hornblower.
Francesca Annis as Lady Ludlow appeared in the first Jericho mystery, Wives and Daughters, and Jane Eyre.
Michael Gambon as Thomas Holbrook is, of course, the current incarnation of Albus Dumbledore and also appeared in Wives and Daughters.

And that's just a handful of the cast & their sterling credits.

Needless to say, I can't wait to watch the rest of this series. For a limited time, you can watch episodes of Cranford on the PBS website - so check it out if you missed episode one! Or you can read the summary of part one here.

Cranford

Sat, 03 May 2008 23:56:43 GMT

This is ridiculous. There are way too many of my filmic obsessions to deal with this month - Robin Hood, Masterpiece Classic, and Frank Sinatra as TCM's Star of the Month (lots more on that last one later!).

After a short break, Masterpiece Classic is picking back up Sunday night with Cranford, a new miniseries based on the work of Elizabeth Gaskell (of the Richard Armitage North & South fame). The miniseries will air over the next three weeks. Side note: I'm pathetic. I'll take any excuse I can get to mention Richard Armitage in a blog, won't I? LOL!

Welcome to Cranford, circa 1840...a rural English town where etiquette rules, undergirded by a healthy amount of gossip. Modernity is making a move in town as construction of a railway comes harrowingly close. Cranford's eclectic residents, among them Matty Jenkyns (Dame Judi Dench) her sister Deborah (Dame Eileen Atkins), and Miss Pole (Imelda Staunton), stay immersed in the sweet pleasures and sometimes heartbreaking realities of simple village life. But when a handsome, young doctor arrives with cutting-edge new techniques, it rapidly becomes clear that as the world changes, so Cranford will change with it. Based on three Elizabeth Gaskell novels (Cranford, My Lady Ludlow and Mr. Harrison's Confessions), and boasting an all-star cast, Cranford breathes life into one town during one extraordinary year.

Cranford is simply brimming with fantastic acting talent, and with source material from the inimitable Mrs. Gaskell, it's been garnering rave reviews (like Kaye's, which you can read here). Check back later for my thoughts on part one!