ARE YOU SITTING DOWN?!?

I HOPE YOU ARE!!!!

YOU ARE ABOUT TO HEAR NEWS SO SHOCKING THAT IF YOU ARE ON HEART MEDICATION, YOU SHOULD PROBABLY LOG OFF RIGHT NOW.

ALRIGHT....ALL YOU HEALTHY PEOPLE....MAYBE YOU SHOULD BUY SOME HAIR PAINT BECAUSE WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO HEAR IS SO UNBELIEVABLE IT MIGHT TURN YOUR HAIR GRAY.

I CAN'T HOLD IT ANY LONGER, SO HERE YOU GO:


SETH ROGEN IS INVOLVED IN A FUNNY MOVIE!

Mind...BLOWN.

I have to tip my hat to Rogen. He is absolutely not funny in any way, shape or form and yet the guy has made a lot of movies and a lot of money. He's where Comedy Goes To Die but also where Potheads Go To Get Paid.

You've heard that a broken clock is right twice a day, so I guess it's not a total surprise that after 20 or 30 movies, Rogen would finally be involved in a funny one.

And that funny movie is "Good Boys".

I do not hold any hope that like that broken clock, Rogen could actually do something right twice, so let's just enjoy "Good Boys" for the anomaly that it is.

"Good Boys" was a last-minute decision, made pretty easy since there was nothing else good showing at the Booze and Chow. I did not tell the girls that Rogen was involved in this project. Why jinx it? We'd all seen the previews for this one a couple times and laughed a lot, so despite me knowing "Good Boys" may be tainted by the involvement of Seth Rogen, we paid our money and took our chances.

The film revolves around three soon-to-be sixth-grade boys who call themselves "The Beanbag Crew". This is because they built a pillow fort and stocked it with bean bag chairs.

The boys are stereotypical characters - you have Max, the sensitive/girl-crazy one; Lucas, the one who is a nerd, knows it, and is proud of it; and Thor, the artsy one. Max is told that there's to be a party, and not just any party - a kissing party. And the girl he wants to kiss is going to be there!

You may have thought "Thor" was the preppiest name in this movie but you, my friend, are wrong. The girl of Max's dreams is named "Brixlee". As a Founding Prepster myself, I have to acknowledge that "Brixlee" may just be the preppiest name I've ever come across.

The plot, therefore, revolves around the Crew getting to the party. Along the way, a lot of R-rated hilarity ensues.

If you think about it, this was not an easy movie to make. There's a fair amount of cursing - by fifth-graders who aren't yet in the sixth grade, no less. There are a TON of sex toys and sex toy jokes. There's drinking and drugs; but not the pot I'm sure you would associate Seth Rogen with. No, the drug in this movie is Molly, and it is successfully ingested by two high school girls, with no ill effects. I'm guessing that was a Rogen thing.

Anyway, the cursing, sex toys and even the drinking and drugs are handled in a way that doesn't make you feel creepy watching it. The Crew aren't completely innocent, as they know how to use the F-word. But everything else is new to them, and their reactions are innocent and funny.

I won't recap the plot for you. Heck, I already did - Kissing Party; Sex Toys; Madcap Adventures; Boy Kisses the Girl.

But it's a laugh-out-loud movie. Which makes me wonder - when Seth Rogen went to the screening of this and heard what audience laughter sounds like, was he confused or did he breathe a sigh of relief and say, "Finally!"?

"Good Boys" is an excellent movie to end your summer. I rate it 3.5 CPR Dolls out of 5 CPR Dolls. That's a great joke that you have to watch the movie to understand, so go watch it!

Lotsa good horror films. Horror is now the new indie.

Blinded by the Light.... 8/10..A sweet , nostalgic film for Thatchers England and how Bruce Springsteen helps a teen navigate that hell...based on a true srory , of course

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019) I ended up watching on Monday night with a group of friends, and when I got home The Wrecking Crew (1968) was on tv, as part of 'Quentin Tarantino Presents' Special Collection on SBS World Movies' the film that introduced him to Sharon Tate. TWC was a totally campy hoot and Sharon was amazing and showed great comic timing as the Miss Freya Carlson, the clumsy Special Agent. I give it a 4 out 5 and now I want the theme song as my ringtone

I really enjoyed the OUATIH, the directing, writing, music, the fashion, cinematography, and the cast (except for that Bruce Lee portryal ), especially Margot Robbie who truly embodied Sharon Tate But the real MVP of the film was Cliff's dog Brandy for that last 10 minutes, she was such a good girl IMO The title is very appropriate, it really did play like a fun and laidback fairy tale, because unfortunately this is not how the actual events occurred , but the way we would have liked the story to have ended. I give this a 4 out of 5

[Edited 8/20/19 20:23pm]

Hello there. This is Mrs. RodeoSchro. I have taken over my husband's account.

We came home from watching Angel Has Fallen last night and he immediately went to the computer. I asked him why and he said, "Honey, there are literally tens of people who want to read my review of the movie we just saw". And yes - he said "literally" the same way Rob Lowe said it on "Parks and Recreation" - litrully. It's so annoying.

He didn't make it very far. I think it was because he drank a lot of wine and whiskey last night. He got ready for bed and I asked him if he was finished. "Nope. I'd rather watch Saturday Night Live!" said my allegedly adult husband.

However, I did not want to watch Saturday Night Live. I never get to watch what I want. What's so bad about Property Brothers or The Incredible Dr. Pol? He won't watch those, so I went to our study and read the two paragraphs he had written so far.

They were incredibly stupid.

Don't tell him I said that.

But honestly, what was he thinking? Was it the whiskey talking? Was it the wine talking? Was it the imitation quesadillas we had at the movie talking? (They were not good.)

Do you litrully tens of people really care that we went to the Boozy Chew or Barf and Chowder or whatever he calls the Studio Movie Grill? Our drinking habits can not be that interesting, and I would rather you litrully tens of people not know what I drink.

Maybe what you litrully tens of people would like to know about is what it's like to watch a movie with a grown man who still thinks Animal House is the pinnacle of film making. Why should I suffer alone? Feel my pain.

My mother and I joined Mr. RodeoSchro at the movies for Angel Has Fallen. I will say that Mr. RodeoSchro informed us that he planned to get drunk and yell "Hotty Toddy!" every time Morgan Freeman was shown wearing his University of Mississippi hat. This, apparently, was his sole reason for buying tickets to this movie. He had previously made us watch the other Fallen movies, and they were not all that good. Not for my mother and I. Too much loud noises, guns and bad acting.

Girding was called for, so my mother and I made us go to a Brazilian restaurant next door to the Studio Movie Grill, where we girded ourselves for this by drinking Lemon Drops. He had some concoction that was made up of mostly whiskey.

At the movie, we found out that wine was 25% off and the Studio Movie Grill carriers Meomi, a very nice Pinot Noir. We ordered a bottle and a bag of popcorn. The waiter asked for our card so he could get it pre-approved and my husband turned to the lady beside him - who already had a bag of popcorn - and said, "If my card gets pre-declined, can I have some of your popcorn?"

I am not making that up.

He thought it was funny and thankfully so did the lady, as well as her very large husband. My heart skipped a few beats.

Our card - my card - was of course pre-approved, and the wine was delivered just before the second preview started.

My wonderful, mature husband therefore watched the preview for Rambo: Last Blood with a very full glass of wine in his hand and a decent amount of whiskey in his stomach.

Does your husband talk to the screen? Mine does, despite my pleading not to. He talked very much to Rambo, who in this movie is about 80 years old and is trying to rescue a young lady to whom he has an attachment. Rambo tells the bad guy that he, Rambo, is going to kill the bad guy. "YOU BET YOU ARE!" said one drunken man.

Guess who that was.

It got worse when the next preview was for a Terminator movie, and there was one brief shot of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Do you know that Arnold Schwarzenegger is my husband's hero?

Well, you do now and so do about 75 people sequestered in the same theater we were.

Oh - that wine glass? Now empty. But not for long.

The feature movie started and with wine once again poured in his glass, he began his commentary.

I mentioned earlier that my husband's one and only goal was to yell "Hotty Toddy!" as many times as he could. "Hotty Toddy!" is the slogan of the University of Mississippi, from where our children matriculated. Morgan Freeman is the voice of the University of Mississippi. Morgan Freeman also plays the president of the United States of America in this movie and to top it off, wears a University of Mississippi cap during a part of it.

The first time Morgan Freeman appeared onscreen in his University of Mississippi cap, my husband yelled "Hotty Toddy!" No one yelled "Hotty Toddy!" in return, which should have been a clue for my husband.

He was, of course, clueless.

The entire theater heard "Hotty Toddy!" about 40 more times. It didn't matter if Morgan Freeman was wearing a University of Mississippi hat or not - any time Morgan Freeman appeared onscreen my husband let loose with a boisterous "Hotty Toddy!" Amazingly, no one ever complained. Maybe they thought Mr. RodeoSchro was actually sneezing? Seems as likely an explanation as anything.

In between "Hotty Toddy!" shouts, we watched a typical male movie, full of explosions, guns and testosterone. It also had a hobo in it that my husband kept insisting was Nick Nolte. And...ummmm...it turned out that hobo was Nick Nolte.

Score one for the drunk, who celebrated by drinking the rest of our wine and then ordering a Jack and Coke. But the Studio Movie Grill serves Pepsi, not Coke. Who in their right mind would accept a Jack and Pepsi?

You get three guesses and the first two don't count.

I'm sure that as drunk as Mr. RodeoSchro was, even he knew immediately that Gerard Butler's old Army buddy was the bad guy. I know I did, and I only had a slight buzz because Mr. RodeoSchro drank all the wine.

The bad guy was so obvious. Almost as obvious as the fact that the ultimate bad guy was the Vice President, who was a spitting image of current Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin. Yes, there are actually two people in the world that look like that. Scary thought.

Before the old Army buddy starts killing people, he has dinner and drinks with Butler and his family. The old Army buddy laments the fact that he now runs a super-soldier training center, and is no longer in "the action" like Butler is. He tells Butler, "We're lions". How macho.

The old Army buddy sends 1,000 baby drones out to kill everyone except his pal Butler. Butler has no idea of any of this; all he knows is that he has to protect the president. "Hotty Toddy!"

Butler is able to save the president but everyone else on the fishing trip died. My husband actually yelled "Un-Hotty Un-Toddy!" at that. I admit, I chuckled just a little. Don't tell him, his head will get even bigger than it already is. We don't want that. No one wants that.

Since the drones easily killed everyone except Butler, who was obviously left alive on purpose, FBI agent Jada Pinkett Smith is convinced Butler was the mastermind behind the drone attack. My husband informed the theater that because this was a giant leap in logic, Butler needed to shoot Jada Pinkett Smith. I remained neutral but my mother said, "Normally I'm against shooting women but you're right, she needs to be shot".

It was at that point that I took her wine glass away.

It seems that the whole point of the movie was for Morgan Freeman to get assassinated so that Steve Mnuchin's twin brother could ascend to the Oval Office and hire Butler's old Army buddy to privatize the US Army.

Butler and his hobo dad Nick Nolte have other ideas, and they win. The best part of the movie was when Butler reunited with his hobo dad, who lived off the grid in the West Virginia woods. But the bad guys track them down and organize a 100-against-2 nighttime raid. Unfortunately for the bad guys, hobo Nick Nolte had wired the entire forest around his shack with explosives, and he blew those 100 bad guys to smithereens.

The final fight is, of course, between Butler and his old Army buddy. I know you won't believe this, but Butler wins the fight, stabbing his old Army buddy under the arm. As the old Army buddy is bleeding out, he tells Butler, "I'm glad it was you that did this to me. We're both lions".

I expected my totally-plastered husband to yell, "No! Butler is a lion! You're just an overgrown kitty cat!" He didn't, so I did.

Hey - I've lived with this guy 33 years. Don't be surprised that some of his obnoxiousness rubbed off on me.

As we left the theater I fully expected some adverse reaction to my husband's sad attempts to draw attention to himself. Surprisingly, five people offered to buy him a drink in the bar. Unsurprisingly, he took each one of them up on their offer. Completely unsurprisingly, I had to drive us home.

How does he end these things? Thumps up? Thumbs down? Some sort of rating system? Yes, that sounds right.

Does he use stars? Or does he try to be funny? Probably the latter and although I love him very much, he probably falls flat on that. I'm sure I can do better.

In the spirit of Mr. RodeoSchro, we are going to rate Angel Has Fallen as Three Glasses of Wine out of Five Glasses of Wine. It will either make you feel good, or mess you up. Or, likely, both.

This has been Mrs. RodeoSchro. Thank you for reading this.

Into The Spider-Verse (2018)

Instantly one of my favorite superhero movies, with a great, relatable storyline. One of the best films of 2018.

.75

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (2019)

Sadly, in light of her recent passing, this doc was timely. It was a documentary done on Morrison's own terms: beautiful and searing at the same time. Like I Am Not Your Negro, this documentary about a writer also served as a great documentary on the black experience.

RodeoSchro said:

Hello there. This is Mrs. RodeoSchro. I have taken over my husband's account.

We came home from watching Angel Has Fallen last night and he immediately went to the computer. I asked him why and he said, "Honey, there are literally tens of people who want to read my review of the movie we just saw". And yes - he said "literally" the same way Rob Lowe said it on "Parks and Recreation" - litrully. It's so annoying.

He didn't make it very far. I think it was because he drank a lot of wine and whiskey last night. He got ready for bed and I asked him if he was finished. "Nope. I'd rather watch Saturday Night Live!" said my allegedly adult husband.

However, I did not want to watch Saturday Night Live. I never get to watch what I want. What's so bad about Property Brothers or The Incredible Dr. Pol? He won't watch those, so I went to our study and read the two paragraphs he had written so far.

They were incredibly stupid.

Don't tell him I said that.

But honestly, what was he thinking? Was it the whiskey talking? Was it the wine talking? Was it the imitation quesadillas we had at the movie talking? (They were not good.)

Do you litrully tens of people really care that we went to the Boozy Chew or Barf and Chowder or whatever he calls the Studio Movie Grill? Our drinking habits can not be that interesting, and I would rather you litrully tens of people not know what I drink.

Maybe what you litrully tens of people would like to know about is what it's like to watch a movie with a grown man who still thinks Animal House is the pinnacle of film making. Why should I suffer alone? Feel my pain.

My mother and I joined Mr. RodeoSchro at the movies for Angel Has Fallen. I will say that Mr. RodeoSchro informed us that he planned to get drunk and yell "Hotty Toddy!" every time Morgan Freeman was shown wearing his University of Mississippi hat. This, apparently, was his sole reason for buying tickets to this movie. He had previously made us watch the other Fallen movies, and they were not all that good. Not for my mother and I. Too much loud noises, guns and bad acting.

Girding was called for, so my mother and I made us go to a Brazilian restaurant next door to the Studio Movie Grill, where we girded ourselves for this by drinking Lemon Drops. He had some concoction that was made up of mostly whiskey.

At the movie, we found out that wine was 25% off and the Studio Movie Grill carriers Meomi, a very nice Pinot Noir. We ordered a bottle and a bag of popcorn. The waiter asked for our card so he could get it pre-approved and my husband turned to the lady beside him - who already had a bag of popcorn - and said, "If my card gets pre-declined, can I have some of your popcorn?"

I am not making that up.

He thought it was funny and thankfully so did the lady, as well as her very large husband. My heart skipped a few beats.

Our card - my card - was of course pre-approved, and the wine was delivered just before the second preview started.

My wonderful, mature husband therefore watched the preview for Rambo: Last Blood with a very full glass of wine in his hand and a decent amount of whiskey in his stomach.

Does your husband talk to the screen? Mine does, despite my pleading not to. He talked very much to Rambo, who in this movie is about 80 years old and is trying to rescue a young lady to whom he has an attachment. Rambo tells the bad guy that he, Rambo, is going to kill the bad guy. "YOU BET YOU ARE!" said one drunken man.

Guess who that was.

It got worse when the next preview was for a Terminator movie, and there was one brief shot of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Do you know that Arnold Schwarzenegger is my husband's hero?

Well, you do now and so do about 75 people sequestered in the same theater we were.

Oh - that wine glass? Now empty. But not for long.

The feature movie started and with wine once again poured in his glass, he began his commentary.

I mentioned earlier that my husband's one and only goal was to yell "Hotty Toddy!" as many times as he could. "Hotty Toddy!" is the slogan of the University of Mississippi, from where our children matriculated. Morgan Freeman is the voice of the University of Mississippi. Morgan Freeman also plays the president of the United States of America in this movie and to top it off, wears a University of Mississippi cap during a part of it.

The first time Morgan Freeman appeared onscreen in his University of Mississippi cap, my husband yelled "Hotty Toddy!" No one yelled "Hotty Toddy!" in return, which should have been a clue for my husband.

He was, of course, clueless.

The entire theater heard "Hotty Toddy!" about 40 more times. It didn't matter if Morgan Freeman was wearing a University of Mississippi hat or not - any time Morgan Freeman appeared onscreen my husband let loose with a boisterous "Hotty Toddy!" Amazingly, no one ever complained. Maybe they thought Mr. RodeoSchro was actually sneezing? Seems as likely an explanation as anything.

In between "Hotty Toddy!" shouts, we watched a typical male movie, full of explosions, guns and testosterone. It also had a hobo in it that my husband kept insisting was Nick Nolte. And...ummmm...it turned out that hobo was Nick Nolte.

Score one for the drunk, who celebrated by drinking the rest of our wine and then ordering a Jack and Coke. But the Studio Movie Grill serves Pepsi, not Coke. Who in their right mind would accept a Jack and Pepsi?

You get three guesses and the first two don't count.

I'm sure that as drunk as Mr. RodeoSchro was, even he knew immediately that Gerard Butler's old Army buddy was the bad guy. I know I did, and I only had a slight buzz because Mr. RodeoSchro drank all the wine.

The bad guy was so obvious. Almost as obvious as the fact that the ultimate bad guy was the Vice President, who was a spitting image of current Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin. Yes, there are actually two people in the world that look like that. Scary thought.

Before the old Army buddy starts killing people, he has dinner and drinks with Butler and his family. The old Army buddy laments the fact that he now runs a super-soldier training center, and is no longer in "the action" like Butler is. He tells Butler, "We're lions". How macho.

The old Army buddy sends 1,000 baby drones out to kill everyone except his pal Butler. Butler has no idea of any of this; all he knows is that he has to protect the president. "Hotty Toddy!"

Butler is able to save the president but everyone else on the fishing trip died. My husband actually yelled "Un-Hotty Un-Toddy!" at that. I admit, I chuckled just a little. Don't tell him, his head will get even bigger than it already is. We don't want that. No one wants that.

Since the drones easily killed everyone except Butler, who was obviously left alive on purpose, FBI agent Jada Pinkett Smith is convinced Butler was the mastermind behind the drone attack. My husband informed the theater that because this was a giant leap in logic, Butler needed to shoot Jada Pinkett Smith. I remained neutral but my mother said, "Normally I'm against shooting women but you're right, she needs to be shot".

It was at that point that I took her wine glass away.

It seems that the whole point of the movie was for Morgan Freeman to get assassinated so that Steve Mnuchin's twin brother could ascend to the Oval Office and hire Butler's old Army buddy to privatize the US Army.

Butler and his hobo dad Nick Nolte have other ideas, and they win. The best part of the movie was when Butler reunited with his hobo dad, who lived off the grid in the West Virginia woods. But the bad guys track them down and organize a 100-against-2 nighttime raid. Unfortunately for the bad guys, hobo Nick Nolte had wired the entire forest around his shack with explosives, and he blew those 100 bad guys to smithereens.

The final fight is, of course, between Butler and his old Army buddy. I know you won't believe this, but Butler wins the fight, stabbing his old Army buddy under the arm. As the old Army buddy is bleeding out, he tells Butler, "I'm glad it was you that did this to me. We're both lions".

I expected my totally-plastered husband to yell, "No! Butler is a lion! You're just an overgrown kitty cat!" He didn't, so I did.

Hey - I've lived with this guy 33 years. Don't be surprised that some of his obnoxiousness rubbed off on me.

As we left the theater I fully expected some adverse reaction to my husband's sad attempts to draw attention to himself. Surprisingly, five people offered to buy him a drink in the bar. Unsurprisingly, he took each one of them up on their offer. Completely unsurprisingly, I had to drive us home.

How does he end these things? Thumps up? Thumbs down? Some sort of rating system? Yes, that sounds right.

Does he use stars? Or does he try to be funny? Probably the latter and although I love him very much, he probably falls flat on that. I'm sure I can do better.

In the spirit of Mr. RodeoSchro, we are going to rate Angel Has Fallen as Three Glasses of Wine out of Five Glasses of Wine. It will either make you feel good, or mess you up. Or, likely, both.

This has been Mrs. RodeoSchro. Thank you for reading this.

WHAT THE #$^$$%?!?!?!?!?!?

It's taken me a couple hours to get over the surprise...the astonishment...the HORROR I feel over my wife's comandeering of my movie reviews.

She was funnier than me!

What a blow to my ego that would be, if I had an ego to get blown. Despite what she said, I am a very humble man with a small ego. You know, what with me being a stable genius who actually sang with Prince one time, I could brag a lot. But I only brag a little. If that's not humble, I don't know what is.

Back to my wife. We're going to have to talk. If she's going to do this, and be better at it than me, then she's going to need an agent. I'll make her the same deal I made with my daughter - my full representation for only 55% of all revenue. (NOTE: I actually did propose that deal to my daughter when she was about 6, but she refused to shake on it. See? Not only am I a genius, but I raised at least one other genius, too. No brag, just fact.)

Actually, this problem may have solved itself. You see, I went to the movies by myself yesterday. So, ha! Let's see her review a movie she hasn't seen! And not only that, but I watched another movie last night at home, and she was already in bed. So I have not one, but TWO movies I can jump ahead of her with.

All's fair in love and journalism.

But first, let me address the elephant in the room. Yes - I did drink all the wine. Well...most of it. And yes - I did ask that lady if I could have some of her popcorn. She was cool with it; I knew that or I wouldn't have asked her - especially given how big her date was. I never get myself in a situation I can't get out of, except for what happened to me this morning. You can read about that on the Fitness thread. I have no desire to rehash my mistake more than once (here, anyway. I'm going to tell the heck out of that story at our neighborhood bar in about two hours.)

First thing's first - yesterday's movie. While the ladies were shopping, I entertained myself by going to see "Overcomer". Yes, it's a God movie.

It's from the Kendrick brothers out of Georgia. This is their sixth movie. All their movies are very inspirational.

In fact their second movie, "Facing the Giants" is not only one of the best faith movies you'll see but it's the best football movie I've ever seen. With the NFL season about to kick off, I suggest watching "Facing the Giants". It could become the football version of "Field of Dreams"!

So - "Overcomer". It's the story of overcoming weakness. In the case of the lead character (Alex Kendrick), it's overcoming adversity while exposing a less-than-total committment to faith. For the lead actress (Aryn Wright-Thompson) it's about overcoming no faith at all, while learning about the father she thought had died years ago.

Suffice to say that faith overcomes all the obstacles. "Overcomer" is a movie that will make you laugh, cry and certainly applaud.

If my wife was rating "Overcomer" I bet she'd give it four and a half handkerchiefs out of five handkerchiefs. There - I've reclaimed what's rightfully mine!

Did you read about my mishap at the gym? If so, good! If not, get over to the Fitness thread. We need the Views!

Last night "Marathon Man" was on TV. One of my favorite movies from the 70's, which I had not seen since the 70's. As previously reported, my wife was in bed so my Favorite Mother-In-Law and I watched it together.

Now, FMIL usually watches the heck out of Lifetime and Hallmark movies. This is not a Lifetime or Hallmark movie. But it IS a great movie.

The shots are so cool. This is movie-making, my friends. Now I know what sexton and damosuzuki feel like when they watch real movies. Maybe I should watch more of the movies they recommend. I did watch that one old-timey flick and it wasn't half-bad. I'm about to spend some time in the mountains, which would be a perfect opportunity to broaden my film horizons.

Who am I kidding? I'm going to load up on 80's comedies and Arnold Schwarzenegger movies.

But...BUT - maybe I'll watch some William Devane movies. What a cool dude! He's in "Marathon Man", playing what turns out to be a bad guy. But he's memorable for wearing this:




That is the ultimate tennis sweater! I didn't even know there was such a thing as a tennis sweater but when I saw that tennis sweater, I had to have it! I remember the day I plunked down way too much money for that exact tennis sweater at the Polo Shop in Dallas. Boy, did I think I was cool! Boy, was I wrong!

Also, one time I ran into Roy Scheider. It was in Houston. He was in a dark bar. I walked by him and kind of did a double-take. Not because I recognized him. Oh no - it was because he was scary. You can't see it in movies, but that dude had one bad complexion. I mean, it looked like he lost a whole lot of knife fights.

I remember thinking, "Don't mess with that old man. He's been up the mountain and back". Then I joined my friends and they were all gushing over a movie star in the bar. "Who?" I asked. "That guy!" and they all pointed at Roy Scheider. Crap! Don't point at that guy! He's going to kill all of us! Except, no - he was Roy Scheider, and he turned out to be really nice.

Therefore, I am invested in "Marathon Man" and I loved it as much last night as I loved it 40 years ago. It should be on your Must-See or Must-See-Again list. Just don't see it if you have a trip to the dentist coming up within the next month or two.

"Marathon Man" gets 4 1/2 William Devane Tennis Sweaters out of 5 William Devane Tennis Sweaters. Fall's coming - I'm going to see if I can find one at the local Polo Shop (are any Polo Shops still open?!?)!

.

[Edited 8/26/19 14:24pm]

You know, there's an old saying that the exception makes the rule. This concept was in full display yesterday, as my son, my favorite mother-in-law and I went to see "Blinded By The Light". My wife was working but none of the rest of us have jobs right now, so there. Maybe she shouldn't have hijacked my acount the other day!

Anyway, the rule that was proved was the RodeoSchro Previews Indication Device (or whatever I usually call it). As my faithful readers know, the previews of any movie are an indicator of what kind of movie you're going to see.

So when I was helpfully talking to Rambo during the previews before "Angel Has Fallen", it was a good indicator that we were going to see an action movie.

The previews for "Blinded By The Light", however, were another matter entirely. ZOMG they were bad. Did you know there's something called "Downtown Abbey"? There is. I think it's a British TV show. All I know is that if "Downtown Abbey" is even 1/10th as boring as the preview for the "Downtown Abbey" movie, I am so very thankful I don't have the BBC channel on my TV. Or if I do, I don't know where it is.

Baed on the trailer, I cannot imagine a more boring movie. Ugh. Just for grins I cued up the trailer for "Downtown Abbey" just now and inserted CCR's "Fortunate Son" about 30 seconds in. It was still boring. If you can't be spiced up by "Fortunate Son", then you're unspice-upable

"Downtown Abbey" was just the first trailer. Then we were subjected to some Christmas movie about a wholly-uninteresting woman in a green elf suit who saves Christmas, or something. "Oh look!" exclaimed my FMIL. "There's a Hallmark Crhistmas movie!" Yeah, probably.

Then of course was Mr. Rogers, and then some movie about a kid who, I think, lost his mother on 9/11. A real festival of laughs, I tells ya!

Normally in a situation like this, I would be well on my way to inebriation. But there were two mitigating factors: (1) it was 4:00 in the afternoon and as long as I don't drink before 5 PM, no one can say I have a problem; and (2) this movie is about Bruce Springsteen!

"Blinded By The Light" delivers on all Springsteenian counts!

This is the feel-good movie of the summer. It truly is! You don't even have to like Springsteen to love this movie (but if you don't like Springsteen, there's something amiss in the right side of your brain. Go get it checked out).

The movie concerns young Javed, a Pakistani teenager living in a London town called Luton. Set in 1987, there's a lot of tension between the Pakistanis and the white Nazis. Javed is not immune to it but he's a cool dude and puts a couple Nazis in their place.

Overall though, Javed is pretty shy and subservient, as that is how he was raised to be. So when an Indian friend of his gives him Springsteen's "Born in the USA" and "Darkness on the Edge of Town" cassettes, the sparks of individualism and confidence are ignited.

Emboldened by The Boss, Javed does all the things you hope he does. I don't want to ruin anything for you, but I did tell you this is the feel-good movie of the summer, didn't I?

There is still a little summer left, so go see the feel-good movie of the summer now. But rest assured that if you wait a month or so and watch it on cable TV or Netflix, then you'll be watching the feel-good movie of the fall.

"Blinded By The Light" gets 4 Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuces out of 5 Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuces. Growin' up!

RodeoSchro said:

RodeoSchro said:

onlyforaminute said:

RodeoSchro said:

Hello there. This is Mrs. RodeoSchro. I have taken over my husband's account.

We came home from watching Angel Has Fallen last night and he immediately went to the computer. I asked him why and he said, "Honey, there are literally tens of people who want to read my review of the movie we just saw". And yes - he said "literally" the same way Rob Lowe said it on "Parks and Recreation" - litrully. It's so annoying.

He didn't make it very far. I think it was because he drank a lot of wine and whiskey last night. He got ready for bed and I asked him if he was finished. "Nope. I'd rather watch Saturday Night Live!" said my allegedly adult husband.

However, I did not want to watch Saturday Night Live. I never get to watch what I want. What's so bad about Property Brothers or The Incredible Dr. Pol? He won't watch those, so I went to our study and read the two paragraphs he had written so far.

They were incredibly stupid.

Don't tell him I said that.

But honestly, what was he thinking? Was it the whiskey talking? Was it the wine talking? Was it the imitation quesadillas we had at the movie talking? (They were not good.)

Do you litrully tens of people really care that we went to the Boozy Chew or Barf and Chowder or whatever he calls the Studio Movie Grill? Our drinking habits can not be that interesting, and I would rather you litrully tens of people not know what I drink.

Maybe what you litrully tens of people would like to know about is what it's like to watch a movie with a grown man who still thinks Animal House is the pinnacle of film making. Why should I suffer alone? Feel my pain.

My mother and I joined Mr. RodeoSchro at the movies for Angel Has Fallen. I will say that Mr. RodeoSchro informed us that he planned to get drunk and yell "Hotty Toddy!" every time Morgan Freeman was shown wearing his University of Mississippi hat. This, apparently, was his sole reason for buying tickets to this movie. He had previously made us watch the other Fallen movies, and they were not all that good. Not for my mother and I. Too much loud noises, guns and bad acting.

Girding was called for, so my mother and I made us go to a Brazilian restaurant next door to the Studio Movie Grill, where we girded ourselves for this by drinking Lemon Drops. He had some concoction that was made up of mostly whiskey.

At the movie, we found out that wine was 25% off and the Studio Movie Grill carriers Meomi, a very nice Pinot Noir. We ordered a bottle and a bag of popcorn. The waiter asked for our card so he could get it pre-approved and my husband turned to the lady beside him - who already had a bag of popcorn - and said, "If my card gets pre-declined, can I have some of your popcorn?"

I am not making that up.

He thought it was funny and thankfully so did the lady, as well as her very large husband. My heart skipped a few beats.

Our card - my card - was of course pre-approved, and the wine was delivered just before the second preview started.

My wonderful, mature husband therefore watched the preview for Rambo: Last Blood with a very full glass of wine in his hand and a decent amount of whiskey in his stomach.

Does your husband talk to the screen? Mine does, despite my pleading not to. He talked very much to Rambo, who in this movie is about 80 years old and is trying to rescue a young lady to whom he has an attachment. Rambo tells the bad guy that he, Rambo, is going to kill the bad guy. "YOU BET YOU ARE!" said one drunken man.

Guess who that was.

It got worse when the next preview was for a Terminator movie, and there was one brief shot of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Do you know that Arnold Schwarzenegger is my husband's hero?

Well, you do now and so do about 75 people sequestered in the same theater we were.

Oh - that wine glass? Now empty. But not for long.

The feature movie started and with wine once again poured in his glass, he began his commentary.

I mentioned earlier that my husband's one and only goal was to yell "Hotty Toddy!" as many times as he could. "Hotty Toddy!" is the slogan of the University of Mississippi, from where our children matriculated. Morgan Freeman is the voice of the University of Mississippi. Morgan Freeman also plays the president of the United States of America in this movie and to top it off, wears a University of Mississippi cap during a part of it.

The first time Morgan Freeman appeared onscreen in his University of Mississippi cap, my husband yelled "Hotty Toddy!" No one yelled "Hotty Toddy!" in return, which should have been a clue for my husband.

He was, of course, clueless.

The entire theater heard "Hotty Toddy!" about 40 more times. It didn't matter if Morgan Freeman was wearing a University of Mississippi hat or not - any time Morgan Freeman appeared onscreen my husband let loose with a boisterous "Hotty Toddy!" Amazingly, no one ever complained. Maybe they thought Mr. RodeoSchro was actually sneezing? Seems as likely an explanation as anything.

In between "Hotty Toddy!" shouts, we watched a typical male movie, full of explosions, guns and testosterone. It also had a hobo in it that my husband kept insisting was Nick Nolte. And...ummmm...it turned out that hobo was Nick Nolte.

Score one for the drunk, who celebrated by drinking the rest of our wine and then ordering a Jack and Coke. But the Studio Movie Grill serves Pepsi, not Coke. Who in their right mind would accept a Jack and Pepsi?

You get three guesses and the first two don't count.

I'm sure that as drunk as Mr. RodeoSchro was, even he knew immediately that Gerard Butler's old Army buddy was the bad guy. I know I did, and I only had a slight buzz because Mr. RodeoSchro drank all the wine.

The bad guy was so obvious. Almost as obvious as the fact that the ultimate bad guy was the Vice President, who was a spitting image of current Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin. Yes, there are actually two people in the world that look like that. Scary thought.

Before the old Army buddy starts killing people, he has dinner and drinks with Butler and his family. The old Army buddy laments the fact that he now runs a super-soldier training center, and is no longer in "the action" like Butler is. He tells Butler, "We're lions". How macho.

The old Army buddy sends 1,000 baby drones out to kill everyone except his pal Butler. Butler has no idea of any of this; all he knows is that he has to protect the president. "Hotty Toddy!"

Butler is able to save the president but everyone else on the fishing trip died. My husband actually yelled "Un-Hotty Un-Toddy!" at that. I admit, I chuckled just a little. Don't tell him, his head will get even bigger than it already is. We don't want that. No one wants that.

Since the drones easily killed everyone except Butler, who was obviously left alive on purpose, FBI agent Jada Pinkett Smith is convinced Butler was the mastermind behind the drone attack. My husband informed the theater that because this was a giant leap in logic, Butler needed to shoot Jada Pinkett Smith. I remained neutral but my mother said, "Normally I'm against shooting women but you're right, she needs to be shot".

It was at that point that I took her wine glass away.

It seems that the whole point of the movie was for Morgan Freeman to get assassinated so that Steve Mnuchin's twin brother could ascend to the Oval Office and hire Butler's old Army buddy to privatize the US Army.

Butler and his hobo dad Nick Nolte have other ideas, and they win. The best part of the movie was when Butler reunited with his hobo dad, who lived off the grid in the West Virginia woods. But the bad guys track them down and organize a 100-against-2 nighttime raid. Unfortunately for the bad guys, hobo Nick Nolte had wired the entire forest around his shack with explosives, and he blew those 100 bad guys to smithereens.

The final fight is, of course, between Butler and his old Army buddy. I know you won't believe this, but Butler wins the fight, stabbing his old Army buddy under the arm. As the old Army buddy is bleeding out, he tells Butler, "I'm glad it was you that did this to me. We're both lions".

I expected my totally-plastered husband to yell, "No! Butler is a lion! You're just an overgrown kitty cat!" He didn't, so I did.

Hey - I've lived with this guy 33 years. Don't be surprised that some of his obnoxiousness rubbed off on me.

As we left the theater I fully expected some adverse reaction to my husband's sad attempts to draw attention to himself. Surprisingly, five people offered to buy him a drink in the bar. Unsurprisingly, he took each one of them up on their offer. Completely unsurprisingly, I had to drive us home.

How does he end these things? Thumps up? Thumbs down? Some sort of rating system? Yes, that sounds right.

Does he use stars? Or does he try to be funny? Probably the latter and although I love him very much, he probably falls flat on that. I'm sure I can do better.

In the spirit of Mr. RodeoSchro, we are going to rate Angel Has Fallen as Three Glasses of Wine out of Five Glasses of Wine. It will either make you feel good, or mess you up. Or, likely, both.

This has been Mrs. RodeoSchro. Thank you for reading this.