Schools Out For Summer!

The teachers at Curmudgeon's school surprised the students by breaking out into a mass dance at the last-day assembly. You can hear by the screams that the kids loved it. The wierdo with the crazy wig who does the break-dance style worm in the middle is--you guessed it--Mr. Curmudgeon himself. Fun fun.

Just Laugh: May 3 of 3

Okay, okay, I know we don't actually have any business declaring that this IS the funniest movie ever made. And I know that technically, it's just an opinion that may not be shared by the American Film Institute or old Mr. Ebert or even you, but still, THIS IS THE FUNNIEST MOVIE IN THE WORLD. period.

And since I suspect that most of you have never seen, maybe never even heard of it, it is our duty to share it. First off, I have to give some credit to my mom. She has owned this movie for eons (well, at least since shortly after 1995 when it was made) and tried several times to get me to watch it. But I'm not a big Kate Beckinsale fan and the cover of the dvd never really grabbed me. So it wasn't until I'd been out of the house for some time that I watched it with some friends in Indiana. In fact, one of Curmudgeon and my friends used this movie as a kind of litmus test for girls he was interested in. He'd have them watch it with him early on in their dating, and if they had the sophistication and intelligence and elegance to find it funny then they might get asked out again. Just kidding (well, not about the date-test, that really happened) it is silly and rustic and kind of dirty and only someone without any sense of humor at all could miss the utter hilariousness. 

The major theme running through the entire film is "I saw something nasty in the woodshed" :) , the cows are named Feckless, Graceless, Aimless and Pointless, and nearly the final line of the movie is "Oh Charles, you do have heavenly teeth!" Also, just because I have a captive audience, here are some of our other favorite lines: "There be no butter in hell!" "Miss Poste, I'm engorgingly in love with you!" "'Should an embryo parson have a plane?' 'Everyone should have a plane!'" And our favorite, in response to the major theme above: "Yeah, but did it see you, Baby?" 

When I've got little tidbits like that to whet your appetite with, I'm not even going to give you a plot synopsis. You'd be doing yourself a disservice not to run out and find this movie right now and watch it--it's on Netflix and if you don't do Netflix most libraries have a copy. Believe me, you'll thank us when it's all over.

Kate Beckinsale, Rufus Sewell, Ian McKellan, Eileen Atkins, Joanna Lumley, Stephen Fry and on and on with other memorable faces. Just go watch.

Counting Down to Summer

Tomorrow is the last day of school and we are SOOOO ready for summer. There are some major benefits to Curmudgeon's career choice and 2.5 months off is one of them. His middle schoolers had their final concert of the year on Monday night. We got a babysitter so that I could go watch and now have to tell you how impressed I was. Okay...they didn't sound like professionals, but they're 12-14 years old and for some of them, orchestra class a few times a week is the only instruction they've ever had. But they played some really entertaining pieces and did them well enough to satisfy a snob like myself (even if, as Curmudgeon says they played much better in class than in the concert). More impressive still is how his students interacted with him both at the concert and when I brought the kids in to visit the next day. I can tell that they genuinely like him and enjoy being a part of his class. You're always going to have some so-and-sos who don't want to be there, don't put in any effort or just can't get through their attitude problems, but there are also those who stick it out, work hard, and by the end of the year can be proud of how much they've learned and what they have to show for it. And from the view of this outside observer, those kids really appreciate Mr. Curmudgeon and his teaching. So as frustrating as the first year is for any teacher, I think Curmudgeon should be proud of how he has done--and he should also know how proud I am of him! And now it's summer and we don't have to think about school again for 2.5 months! (well, he'll probably think about it every day and spend a great deal of time selecting and arranging new pieces, mapping out his pedagogical plans and gussying up his classroom. But the point is, he doesn't have to, and when he chooses to, that just makes him an even better teacher!)

Just Laugh: May 2 of 3

We debated back and forth whether or not to include The Royal Tenenbaums in this month's selections. In my mind, it is easily the second-funniest movie in the world (that's not intended to disparage it. Second-funniest is pretty darned funny. THE funniest is coming next week...wait for it). But more important than its hilarity is the sheer beauty, tragedy, failure and redemption that is played out in its 110 minutes. 

It is hilarious, and as the second-funniest movie in the world, it won it's well-deserved place in our comedy-themed May. But I think The Royal Tenenbaums is an important film and deserves a place among all the other great masterpieces of cinema. I never come away from it (now after seeing it countless times) without feeling better and more optimistic about our human family. Okay, enough homage. Now down to business. 

Wes Anderson--genius, genius Wes Anderson--leaves his unmistakable mark on every film he's ever made. His sense of style, timing, setup, music, irony all play together to create a movie experience more akin to absurdist theatre than blockbuster cinema. They're all brilliant (we particularly recommend Fantastic Mr. Fox which has all his classic thing-ness but is also family friendly. Our babies love it.) but this one is my ultimate favorite. 

The story centers around the Tenenbaum family: Royal and Etheline and their brilliant children: Chaz, Margot and Richie. But then Royal and Etheline separate and over the years the children each experience their own personal tragedies until virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums is erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster. The bulk of the movie follows the reunion of the fractured family and its damaged members and is a beautifully quirky and brilliantly understated reminder that relationships don't just heal themselves. Repentance, forgiveness, understanding and finally redemption come through a painfully brutal and ultimately cleansing and renewing process of love and patience.

The cast could not be better. Gene Hackman and Anjelica Huston lead the family with Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow and Luke Wilson as their children. Owen Wilson, Bill Murray and Danny Glover support as a husband, a fiance, a best friend and a bridge partner. 

One last thing I am bound to say: for the sake of full disclosure, this is rated R for language, some nudity and adult themes. If you just want to take my word that it's a good movie I totally get that. For those of you who do watch it, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Up next week: well, I really didn't want to spoil the surprise, but just so you have time to get your hands on it, Cold Comfort Farm.

Just Laugh: May 1 of 3

Trying to boil down the entire gamut of comedies into three short weeks is just silly. So instead, we just picked three (give or take a few) that we like. Only one of our choices this month is actually THE funniest movie ever made, and we're saving that one for last. But I'm getting ahead of myself. This week, we present:

It wasn't until I was married that I found out that Cary Grant was a comedian. All I had seen growing up was him as the handsome (if aging) leading man in romantic or suspense roles like Charade and North by Northwest. And while he does crack a few jokes in those movies, I always thought "well, he's trying to be funny... but". It wasn't until Curmudgeon made me watch Arsenic and Old Lace that I became acquainted with Cary Grant: hilarious physical comedian. 

And it was another several years after that Curmudgeon and I were both introduced (by my mother) to Walk Don't Run. Neither of us had ever heard of this 1966 comedy set in Tokyo during the Summer Olympics. After seeing it, I can't imagine why it isn't more famous. I think after watching it, you'll see why of all the hilarious comedies out there, we chose to grace our selections with this little unknown beauty.

Cary Grant plays an Englishman in Tokyo for business who can't get a hotel because everything is booked due to the Olympics. Jim Hutton (and yes, he is Timothy Hutton's dad) is an athlete who arrives two days early, and finds the Olympic lodgings are not ready yet. Somehow (we'll let you watch to find out how) they both end up lodging with Samantha Eggar, a buttoned-up, tightly scheduled, no-nonsense young woman. And then it gets really funny. So have fun and enjoy this undeservedly forgotten gem of a comedy.

And if you like Cary Grant but are yet unconvinced of his comedic talents, try Arsenic and Old Lace, The Philadelphia Story or Bringing Up Baby.

Coming up next week...we still haven't made up our mind. So come back next week and be surprised :)

A Temple and A Twister

We had an exciting Sunday here in Kansas this week.
First, the Kansas City Missouri Temple was dedicated. The service was overseen by President Thomas S. Monson, the Prophet and current president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the quorum of the twelve apostles attended also, along with Elders Hallstrom and Walker of the quorum of the seventies. For those unfamiliar with the administrative order of the church, I'll refer you here for a helpful explanation of those terms.

Alais sang in the choir for the dedication service. The dedication (there were actually three separate sessions to allow as many church members as possible to participate) was broadcast live to all the local meetinghouses because seating at the temple was so limited. It was a very special, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate in such a service, especially to sing there in that tiny room right next to the prophet and his apostles. (though I'll admit, it was a little unnerving to sing right in Elder Hallstrom's ear. His chair was literally so close to me I had to keep reminding myself not to rest my hands on the back of his chair!) Little side note here, I wish I had had a chance to talk to Elder Hallstrom and his wife. They used to live in Hong Kong and I served for several months in their branch when I was there as a missionary. I don't know if they would remember me, but I certainly had several conversations with them both. If I could have picked one VIP to talk to that day, I think it would have been Sister Hallstrom. Of course, there was no opportunity at all, so I just flashed her a little smile before singing and hoped she might recognize me.

One really great thing for me was having my very good friend in the soprano section with me. Our boys play together all the time, she watches my kids whenever I have a voice lesson and we love getting to hang out together for real-life grown-up conversations while our little boys talk trucks and trains.
The meeting was joyful and the dedication so touching. There's a lot of Mormon history in this area, much of it pretty sad as the early Mormons had to flee the state to escape violent persecution. Seeing a beautiful temple standing right in Liberty, MO is hugely significant for Latter-Day Saints all over the world.

In completely unrelated news, we also had our first great adventure of the storm season. After naptime was over during that long stretch between afternoon and bedtime, we decided to take a family drive into the country. It had been a rainy day (you can see the cornerstone up there is all wet and weird-looking) but seemed to be clearing up by the time we went out driving. BUT...

...this is what we saw on our drive home. We looked out at the clouds and saw that one was starting to look pretty suspicious. We didn't have our camera with us, so I'm just borrowing this picture and video from folks who were actually prepared to capture the moment. 

Crazy, huh! I'd never seen a tornado before that night and I'm really ok if I don't see one again. (Fat chance living in Kansas, right?) The video really shows just about what we saw. We were further away, so we didn't get to see all that menacing swirly detail, but we definitely saw it change shape and move and turn into that really creepy finger at the end before dissipating.
By the time we got home, there was hail the size of ping-pong balls pounding at our car and we felt lucky not to have our windshield break. We got the kids inside and spent a cozy little hour in the basement watching Sesame Street and eating macaroni and cheese. All in all, it was a pretty exciting day.

Hey, we're just taking a week off. Monthly Movies will be back next week.