Category: Movie / Television

021724 • Thrift Store Finds

There was snow this morning, and a lot of ice on my windshield and windows, but after backing my car up out of the shade the sun took care of things rather quickly! Not a lot of people were out today, at least at first. The roads were fine. We did our usual stop at Culver’s, which is always great! And for once, we got my favorite seat at the window where we get to watch cars go through the drive-thru, instead of the parking lot, and nobody was sitting near us even though things were busy and this was a usually busy area. Pesky people and their needs! We hit three ARC thrifts and called it a day.

I saw this “Marches of all Nations” a few weeks ago, but didn’t look at it. I’ve been into Marches and Cadences lately, so I gave it a look… didn’t expect to see 8-Tracks in here!

The John Toland/Hitler book, I actually have the two-book version of this, and am about to finish the first book. But I had to buy this combined version, it was only a buck-fifty! There is something to how they published this, with staggered pages, they type they chose and how it fills the page. Plus, it is very interesting stuff, not just about Hitler, but about how Germany grew to do what they did, how the politics worked, and how people work in certain situations… not just in the book, but the parallels to things today, and throughout history. Fascinating stuff. Most people shy away from the subject matter, but that is on top of ignoring history int he first place. This is stuff we need to learn from.

The “Never Call Me a Hero” book is right up my alley because it is a first-person account of Midway. I really like books by the people who experienced the events.

“Ghost Army” details the clever deceptions by the Allies to fool the Germans before D-Day. Not sure they could get away with this now?

“On Killing” is the second, actually, third book I have on the subject of what learning how to kill can do to people over the long run. “Hitler’s Willing Executioners” and “Moral Combat” are the other two. “Hitler’s Willing Executioners” is the most difficult book I’ve ever read, due to the subject matter, and how it was written. I was constantly re-reading paragraphs as to understand them, and I re-read the book when I was done.

Hancock • I watched this a few months ago, and it is actually a pretty good movie. Far better than what Marvel or DC is putting out these days.

Employee of the Month • Not the best comedy, but it’s worth watching. I was in the middle of re-watching this on YouTube, and they moved it behind the pay wall the next day when I went to finish it. I’m already paying them money to watch things. This is why I’m into physical media.

Django Unchained / Passengers • Both of these were still in the wrapper brand-new, for only two bucks!

1911 / Shock Wave • Just because they looked like they might be worth watching…

Sixteen Candles • Not my favorite John Hughes movie, it is more like supplemental material to the Breakfast Club.

Entourage • I watched all of these years ago, and I see them a lot at the thrifts for next to no money. What I remember most is the really great performance and character of the guy who was their lawyer. I didn’t think I’d see this movie again, so hey. I think I’m going to get the first season only (a buck-fifty) next time I see it, just to see if I really do want to see these again. Also, this was in the wrapper, so that was three brand-new ones today!

Thunderbolt • Looks like a good documentary on the plane that preceded the A-10 Thunderbolt II / Warthog.

Careful music selections: the Ravel is a double-CD in perfect shape, the Rimsky-Korsakov is a dual CD as well, and the Sibelius is a composer I’ve only come to appreciate in the last few years, and for some reason BIS puts out a lot by him.

121623 • Thrift Store Finds

Pretty good haul considering we only went to one thrift store today. All of the seasons of Parks and Recreation, although at full price, still pretty cheap. Three seasons of That ’70’s Show, and a Blu-ray of seasons one and two, with a lot of extras, of Twin Peaks. I’m going to get the more recent “third” season of the show when I start watching these. I was so mad when they cancelled the show, leaving us with that cliffhanger of an ending… it’s good that they finally fixed that, twenty-five years later! As I recall, in the original show, it was mentioned that in twenty-five years, such-and-such would happen… and they actually did it in that time frame!

I also had to buy all of the Christopher Nolan / Christian Bale / Hanz Zimmer: Batman soundtracks on digital, but I actually found The Dark Knight soundtrack in great shape! That was a big find for me.

And this Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegal looks to be really good, he talks about the piece before he plays them.

We hit the thrift long after lunch, so considering it was that time of the day, we did pretty good. I have to wonder what I might have missed, though!

Why Modern Movies Suck – Nobody Can Stay Dead!

(Below is my own list of those who don’t die in Disney Star Wars)

One of the many, many reasons I’m not a fan of modern Star Wars, (with a few exceptions) is that the only Star Wars characters that died, yet came back, were Yoda, Ben Kenobi, and Anakin, as Force ghosts. There was a set rule, or reason that they could, and that was limited as they didn’t just come back as a character that could go on more adventures, they were there only to advise, and disappear. Because they had died. Because dying was something that was taken seriously by the writers. 

But now, in the post-Lucas Star Wars era, killing a character is a cheap trick to get some drama into the script, because the writers have no idea how to write a good story. Here are all the characters I could think of that have died, yet came back: 

Palpatine – They couldn’t make a better bad guy, and Snoke didn’t work out, so…

Leia – Blown into the vacuum of space… nope! Just floats on back, she’s amazing!

Rey – How romantic. And odd that nobody ever used the Force in this way before.

Chewbacca – They’d never actually kill the Walking Carpet.

IG-11 – Blown up while in a river of molten lava. But he’s coming back somehow.

Poe – He… didn’t make it. Wait, there he is!

Ahsoka – Time travel. They use time travel in Star Wars now.

C-3PO – They’d never really kill Goldenrod.

Fennec Shand – Predictable, but it happened.

Han Solo – Force Ghost. This means that now, any non-Jedi can return as a Force Ghost.

Darth Maul – How? HOW? He was cut in half and fell into a bottomless pit!

Boba Fett – Why not, everybody else comes back.

Two characters in Kenobi take a lightsaber to the body… and they are fine.

Snoke – Wasn’t worth bringing back.

Reva – (Kenobi) Stabbed through with lightsaber (when she was a child), didn’t die. Stabbed through as an adult, didn’t die.

Grand Inquisitor (Kenobi) – Stabbed through with lightsaber, didn’t die.

Sabine (Ahsoka) – Run through with lightsaber, survives and doesn’t miss much.

Add to all of this, the over-use of The Force, of which they use to do anything they want now, including bringing people back from the dead.