Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

They were funny, witty and charming...yes, I'm talking about the bad guys!  And even though I'm often a bit conflicted to watch movies where the bad guys are the heroes, I loved this one! 

I'm sure you know that I'm talking about Paul Newman and Robert Redford, who starred as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  They're lovable outlaws who spend their time running from the law, then relaxing at the local brothel before the next big heist.  But when they find it difficult to outrun one particular posse, they hightail it out of the U.S. and head to Bolivia. 

There were a couple of scenes that seemed to drag on unnecessarily - in one particular part of the movie, they are shown traveling through the desert and wilderness, and it just seems to go on and on...we watch them ride their horses for what seems like forever.  Another scene that also seems unnecessarily long, is when they travel to Bolivia.  We are shown still shots of their trip..and that part also seems to go on for a while!  Those parts almost felt like they were just there to fill time.   But I so loved the rest of the movie, that I was willing to overlook those scenes. And actually, it was ok, because those long scenes gave me time to run to the kitchen for something to drink!

The dialogue was great- very funny lines, and I especially loved the deadpan delivery they each had.  In one scene where they were cornered by the posse, Butch is trying hard to convince Sundance to jump off the cliff into the river below.  Finally, Sundance admits he cant swim.  Without missing a beat, Butch says, "You cant swim?  Hell, the fall alone will kill you anyway!"

This movie has immortalized these two actors - I'm sure that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is the first movie we think of when we hear either of their names. They are at their prime here - extremely handsome and charming!  This is a must see!  I might even watch it again!

Country Strong

Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw play husband and wife Kelly and James Canter in this story of a troubled country singing star.  When we first meet them, Kelly is in rehab, flirting with Beau (Garret Hedlund), a young employee at the facility.  Beau also happens to be a country singer and songwriter.  James is taking Kelly out of rehab, because he's anxious for her to get back on the road.

We soon learn that Kelly is not only an alcoholic, but that a fall she took at a show, because of her drunkenness, caused the death of her unborn child.  Needless to say, this incident was bad for her career.  James, who is also her manager, has one goal in mind - to get her going on a comeback tour, to prove to her fans that she is "ok" now.  It soon becomes evident that she left rehab way too soon. Sadly, their relationship is so distant, that he cant see that its the career that's killing her.  All he can think about is saving her image to save her career. 

At Kelly's request, James reluctantly, asks Beau to join them on as the opening act on the tour.  They also take young beauty-pageant-queen turned-country-singer, Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester) as another opening act.  As you can guess, all the relationships get a little complicated.

Kelly needed to dull the pain she felt in her life, and drinking was how she did it.  It seemed that the life of a star became too much for her.  James didn't seem to care that she wasn't "all better".  He just wanted her to look as if she was, so that her career could carry on.  Kinda reminded me of a scene in the movie Coal Miner's Daughter, where Loretta Lynn - about to have a nervous breakdown on stage - said,  "Patsy always said, 'Little girl, you've got to run your life'...but I fear my life is running me".

Country Strong was slow at times, and a bit predictable.  But it was an OK movie with good acting and good entertaining music. A good home DVD movie. 

IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS, By Jan Karon

This is the most current release by Jan Karon, author of the beloved Mitford Series books.  After completing the Mitford books, Karon began the new "Father Tim" series.  This one is the second of those books  ("Home to Holly Springs" is the first)

If you've read my past reviews on Karon's previous books, I'm sure you know that I was  excited to see this book at the store. Couldn't wait to read it! I'm sad to say,  it was a huge disappointment.  In fact, I couldn't wait for it to end.

As the story begins, Father Tim and wife Cynthia have arrived in Ireland, for the trip of a lifetime that he'd been promising her for years.   They arrive at a Bed & Breakfast,  where we read about what they ate, what they wore, what the dog did, how many swans were in the lake...it seemed that for most of the book, it was one dull detail after another.   Cynthia had hurt her ankle, so they were stuck at the Inn for most of the time.  It was over 100 pages into the story before anything of note happened.  Additionally, since the dialog was written in an Irish accent, it was very difficult to understand what was being said between characters. 

Tim and Cynthia discover and old journal at the lodge, and spent a lot of time reading it, since they cant do much else because of her ankle injury.  Long passages from that journal are written out for us, and wouldn't you know it, the journal is also full of dull details!   

Toward the end,  a little drama starts happening, but since we're about 3/4 of the way into the book, its hard to really care.  I felt no connection with the characters at all, in fact, it was hard to keep them all straight!  There was the family that ran the Inn, and the additional staff, the guests, and the rest of the family and staff at a nearby home - not to mention all the people that were written about in the journal!  I finally gave up trying to figure out who was who. 

I was determined to finish it, and I did.  But it was difficult.  So disappointed in this one.

The Shop Around The Corner (1940)

A fun little movie!

And by the way, it served as the basic story for the later, modernized remake which was "You've Got Mail", with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan!

The Shop Around the Corner was set in 1940's Budapest, in a gift shop where the two main characters were co-workers who could barely tolerate each other!  What they didn't realize, was that they were corresponding with each other by mail, and had fallen in love with each other through their letters! 

The "pen pals", Klara and Alfred, are played by James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan.  James Stewart is soooo handsome and looks soooo young in this movie.  He was only 32 year old in this!  The supporting cast are wonderful characters too! From the lovable and funny "Pirovitch" to the adorable "Pepi", this was a very entertaining ensemble and a great movie!  Yes, it probably is as predictable as "You've Got Mail", but in this genre, predictable is ok!