Midnight Oil:Movies and More

In “A League of Their Own” (1992) IMDb, Tom Hanks and Geena Davis get the chance to shine while the boys are away at World War II. This entertaining flick about women’s baseball during the war exposes some interesting moments examining feminism in a previous era as well as relational dynamics between men and women and amongst women. Penny Marshall directs a strong supporting cast that includes Rosie O’Donnell, Lori Petty, Madonna and Jon Lovitz to a winning finish in a movie that most anybody can appreciate (including non-sports types such as myself).

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View the video preview on TVO for “ A League of Their Own”.

Catch the video trailer of "A League of Their Own" (1992)

This Christmas on TVO's SNAM, Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan whip up some silly and frothy holiday fare that's just right for those of us who are in the mood for some seasonal schmaltz.

It’s really easy at Christmas time to enter into some kind of a weird headspace that’s chock-full of ooey gooey sentimentality and high calorie nostalgia. We should all know better by now than to indulge, but for some reason, because it’s the holiday season, we just let ourselves go and run hog wild with the schmaltz and the schlock.

For me, a movie like "Christmas in Connecticut" fits in there somewhere in that weird headspace.

Read the rest of the Hunky Dunky Holiday archived entry for the review of "Christmas in Connecticut" on the Midnight Oil journal.

See also the Barbara Stanwyck classic "The Lady Eve" on the Midnight Oil Video Journal.

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Catch the TVO video preview for "Christmas in Connecticut".

"Father of the Bride" (1950) IMDb with Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor provides an interesting look into the subject of marriage, weddings and father/daughter relationships. Joan Bennett plays the bride to be's mother and Don Taylor the prospective groom. A very young Liz Taylor makes for a convincing first-time bride while Tracy hams it up in the role of the doting daddy. While

the perspective on marriage and general naïvité of the young persons involved might seem a little odd for today's audience viewing this film, the dynamics of the internal family relationships may prove to be more familiar ground.

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Catch the video trailer for "Father of the Bride" here.

 

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“In and Out” (1997) starring Kevin Kline, Tom Selleck and Joan Cusack is all about the influence of Hollywood on the lives of everyday people living in ordinary places. But isn’t it about a gay high school teacher coming out of the closet? But I thought it was about an unassuming English teacher “being outed” by his former pupil who happened to make a chance remark about his former teacher’s sexual orientation while receiving an Academy Award. It is all rather confusing. Some people, like Tom Selleck’s character, bigwig reporter Peter Malloy, seem to have perfect clarity about these things. But as for Mr. Howard Brackett himself (Kevin Kline), his fiancée (Joan Cusack), his parents, his friends and pretty much the rest of the world, it all comes as a big surprise.

 

Naturally enough, neither Mr. Brackett nor his fiancée of quite some time were at all suspicious as they carried on with their extraordinarily commonplace lives. And quite naturally, everything and everyone is thrown into a tizzy once the big “revelation” has been announced on national television. From there on in, everything gets re-examined, re-decided and recast simply on the say-so of the newly minted Hollywood star (played by Matt Dillon). The aftershock comes with quite hilarious results, naturally enough. But naturally I wonder who has the bigger problem – Howard Brackett with his questions about his sexual orientation or the rest of us who appear to be so disposed as to believe anything we hear (as long as it is salacious and announced on national television). Fortunately for all concerned, “In and Out”  is a comedy and the  explorations of the vagaries of human nature remain  lighthearted and are often treated in a quite funny manner.

 

 >> Real Life Story: DJ was a young man who was confused about a lot of things in life. Eventually he banged into some hard realities that led to deep life change.

 

>>More to see: Looking for more out of life?

Don't miss the entire dance sequence in Howard's "Real Men Don't Dance" routine. Catch the trailer for "In and Out" (1997).