Why I Oughta...

There I was, just wasting time as I watched Caddyshack on tv a few weeks back and I see Carl Spangler prepping for his battle with the gopher. But, what's that in the sacks behind him?  Wait a second...that's...Milorganite.  Yeah...Milorganite.   Kinda interesting to see the old-school bags from 1979 that the pros down in Davie Florida were using, isn't it?   The time is near for my first application of Milorganite for the season - on/around Memorial Day .  

Not a better place to see the last one of these Star Wars movies than in the Tivoli - which I am guessing hosted all nine of them.  There are plenty of people out there that are saying the movie was bad, but I liked it.  And...I stayed awake the whole time.  These days, the theatres around us are all putting in this luxury lean-back seats.  Everytime I get into one of those, the movie has a hard time competing with my next nap. 

Took us a couple of weekends, but we finally went to see Solo as a family recently.  And, I liked it.  I think we all did?   The only part that I have strong feelings about is the Darth Maul part at the end.  Why wasn't that Jabba?  We went to the York Theater in Elmhurst, which is one of our favorite theaters and part of the Classic Cinemas chain.  Here's a trip to another Classic Cinemas theater in Fox Lake . 

I last covered the Art @ the York Theatre program in January when they ran the Beatles 'Eight Days a Week' film.   I walked by the York recently and came across the poster for The Salesman.  The details of the showing are at the Classic Cinemas site .  This showing is twice on April 12th.  Both 1 pm and 7 pm.  If you're looking for them (which...I am doubtful you are!), then.... Here's all of the Art @ The York Theatre posts on the blog .   The team at the York and Classic Cinemas always seem to select interesting movies for this series, but this one?   Over on Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 97% rating .  But...it is an Iranian movie.   That won the Academy Award for "Best Foreign Language Film" .    Meaning...it will be subtitled, right?  That's A LOT of reading.   While I'd love to say that you can sign me up for this....it might be a bridge too far for me and my movie house visits.  Mr. Culture ri...

I've written here on the blog about our past brushes with famous people.  Like Hollywood famous people.  T here's that time when Nat and I - before we had kids - stayed in the pool house of Joel Murray . But recently, we had a totally different experience.  We we went to see the new Disney movie Beauty and the Beast at the York and we stayed all the way through the credits.  Why?  Because, we wanted to see what you see above:  the listing for the executive producer. The Babe, who is the only one of the three that can read, was waiting in her seat with us and she just about jumped out of her seat when his name showed up.  It was a fun little way to end the movie for us.  The film itself was great, but because we've know that someone we know has been involved in the project for years, it made it even more fun.  So, I'm considering this our 2nd Hollywood *kinda* connection.  Kinda...because they're related to people we're related to....

The Babe scored this little bonus pack that includes The Mini Batwing from the Lego Batman movie as the VIP Club 'free' gift along with a recent Lego purchase.  I say 'free' in quotes because while it *is* free, that's because we bought the sets directly from the Lego store, which gives us VIP points and little free sets like this.  They don't, however, have the best prices.  You can go on Target and compare prices on just about any recent set and see that Target has it a few bucks cheaper.  But...you don't get the points and the little things like this.  So, since the kids are so young and it seems like we're just entering our Lego years, I've decided to play the long-game and go with the VIP points program.   See this brickvesting post for some details .  (btw...brickvesting?  Like investing in Legos???  Seriously?  Maybe that's how I can convince Nat to let us buy more!   Honey....we're investing in our future!! ) The Babe s...

There are a few movies that are tear-jerkers for me.  I mean...no matter how many times I watch them, they turn on the water works.  When Tom Hanks is torn up about executing John Coffey but can't bring himself to say those words.  Or just about any part involving Rudy's dad in the movie Rudy.  But, in particular this scene. Every.time.  The music, the build-up.  The whole thing between Rudy and his Dad and brother. That line. "This is the most beautiful sight deez eyes have ever seen." That was going to be the caption for this photo below.  But that's ridiculous, right?  Or maybe not.  Those of you who are in the know, might agree with Rudy's Dad.  Especially because they're floats.

Well, well, well.  Now...*this* is a film worth talking about as part of the Art @ York Series at the York Theatre in the Elmhurst City Centre.  'The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years' is the choice from Classic Cinemas for the February 2017 Art @ York Feature.  You can see more here on their site , but it is being shown on Wednesday February 8th at 1 pm and 7 pm. And it was done by Ron Howard?  Yep ! The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years is based on the first part of The Beatles' career (1962-1966) - the period in which they toured and captured the world's acclaim. Ron Howard's film will explore how John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr came together to become this phenomenon, "The Beatles." It will delve into their inner workings - how they made decisions, created music and built their collective career together - all the while, highlighting The Beatles' extraordinary musical gifts and their r...

Showing TODAY (Wedesday) at the York Theater is this month's "Art @ the York" feature titled 'The Man Who Knew Infinity'.  For those of you who don't know about this film series, the basics are that you can get all art-y with this movie (that isn't shown widely) today and you can also get there for the organ player before the show.   Yep.  They bring the guy from The Tivoli in Downers Grove to play before the show in the original theatre at the York.  Pretty neat.   Despite the Rotten Tomatoes score of just 62% , the Art @ York series usually gets the movies right, so this one seems worth seeing. Check out the Art @ The York archives here on the blog  where I've been covering this series since it began all the way back in June of 2015 .  

The next film up in the Art @ the York Theatre series in the Elmhurst City Centre is Jimmy's Hall.  You can see the official listing here on the Classic Cinemas' site here . There's also this Eventbrite listing that allows you to 'register' for the screenings?  Which is weird, but maybe you can buy tickets through Eventbrite, now? Anyway, about the film : In 1921, Jimmy Gralton's sin was to build a dance hall on a rural crossroads in Ireland where young people could come to learn, to argue, to dream, but above all to dance and have fun. Jimmy's Hall celebrates the spirit of these free thinkers. The film is set in 1932 and follows events when Jimmy returned from a decade in New York and re-opened the hall. The film is freely inspired by Jimmy's life and turbulent times. (109 minutes) The screenings are on September 14th at 1 pm and 7 pm. And...don't forget to get there early for the preshow entertainment at 12:30 PM on their Barton Theatre ...

I was at Mariano's in Naperville over the weekend when I came across a huge Hi-C display on one of the end caps.   And...it took me a moment to figure out what was going on here.  The whole juicebox world has been shaken up and now Natalie brings home organic, healthy, what-have-you juice boxes for the kids that are mostly from Trader Joe's and she usually turns her nose up at things like Capri Sun and the like. But...Hi-C?  I think she'd call it sugar water.  But...but...but...she's a HUGE Ghostbusters fan.  In fact, her whole family is bonkers for Ghostbusters.  I'm talking DIY Halloween costumes in the 80's and 90's and holding on to vintage Ghostbusters toys for future grandkids-kinda bonkers.  Good bonkers, btw.  But...Ghostbusters bonkers. So, I put them in the cart and brought them hope.  Guess what?!?  She loved them!  Fired off a few photos to her brothers scattered around the country.  The kids drank them up. ...

Coming on Wednesday, June 8th to the York Theatre in Elmhurst is the film 'Peggy Guggenheim, Art Addict' as the latest in the Art @ York series.   You can see all the history of the Art @ York series here on the blog .  This one is a documentary.  And...it doesn't (like last month) feature one of my favorites:  Rachel Weisz.  Too bad. From the Classic Cinemas' site: This documentary is a portrait of a patron of the arts extraordinaire who transformed a modest fortune into one of the premiere collections of twentieth century modern art.

That photo above with all the terrible glare that comes from my morning walk to the train shows the movie poster for the Art @ the York Theatre monthly film ' Youth' staring Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz - who, Nat can tell you - I have a little thing for.  And Michael Caine?  He's awesome, right?  But, now that the guys on the Stern show are doing phony phone calls with someone who does his voice as "British Actor Michael Caine", I can't keep a straight face whenever I see/hear his name. The film is being shown a week from today: May 11th.  1 pm and 7 pm central.   I continue to promote these showings because I think they're great for the community.  Good on Classic Cinemas for continuing to push forward on the Art @ York series. Here's what the movie is about : YOUTH is about two longtime friends vacationing in the Swiss Alps. Oscar winning actor Michael Caine plays Fred, an acclaimed composer and conductor, who brings alo...

Spotted this Zootopia wrap on the Orange Monorail down at the Walt Disney World Resort in late March.  Having talked about this with Nat, we're both *so* happy that this movie was good AND that it is doing so well.  Often times, you don't get both.  Good on Disney for promoting the movie on the Monorail around the Magic Kingdom on the resort line. And, while we're talking about Zootopia, if you have 45 minutes, watch this documentary on the making of the movie.  ( update on 4/19/16...this movie has been switched to private.  So..it doesn't work any more! )

According to this piece by Patrick Guinane of the Chicago Tribune Daily Southtown , Mayor Jim Holland and the Board of Trustees in Frankfort have approved a new upscale movie theatre to come to town and occupy the now-vacant Dominick's store on LaGrange Road.   From the story : The Village Board voted 4-0 to approve Emagine Entertainment's proposal to build a 10-screen theater inside the former Dominick's grocery store at 19965 S. LaGrange Rd.   The vote came after a silent public hearing on a long-term plan to borrow $60.5 million to modernize the village's sewage treatment system, which could get a final vote at the March 21 board meeting.   The luxury theater, which will feature online reserved ticketing, powered reclining seats and beer and wine, drew rave reviews from Frankfort officials.   "It's been a long time since a project has garnered this much interest," said Trustee Cindy Heath, who expressed hope the theater would bring more show...

This month, it was Trumbo starring Bryan Cranston for the Art @ the York Theatre showing .  But, if you walk past the Theatre today, you'll see that they're already advertising for the April showing which will be the film Suffragette . Suffragette will show on the 2nd Wednesday of April:   April 13th at 1 and 7 pm .  Make sure you get there early for the organ music.  Seriously. I'll tell you that while I had heard of Trumbo before the Art @ York showing, I've never heard a peep about Suffragette.   From the York Theatre's site : This stirring story centers on Maud, a working wife and mother whose life is forever changed when she is secretly recruited to join the U.K.'s growing suffragette movement. Galvanized by the outlaw fugitive Emmeline Pankhurst, Maud becomes an activist for the cause alongside women from all walks of life. When increasingly aggressive police action forces Maud and her dedicated fellow suffragettes underground, they ...

The upcoming showing in the Art @ York series is going to be Trumbo featuring Bryan Cranson, Helen Mirren, Elle Fanning and Diane Lane.  With the Academy Awards coming up shortly, this could be a huge coup for the York.  If Cranston wins, I'm guessing this will be a packed showing? And if you do go, make sure you get there 30 minutes early for the organ music! I don't think I posted about February's Art @ York feature, but here's a link to the one from January of this year .    And here's a rundown of the rest of the Art @ York series .

The folks at the York Theatre are back at it with another film in their "Art @ York" series called Learning to Drive.   Here's the rest of the Art @ York posts on the blog . From the Classic Cinemas site describing the movie : Wendy is a fiery Manhattan author whose husband has just left her for a younger woman; Darwan is a soft-spoken taxi driver from India on the verge of an arranged marriage. As Wendy sets out to reclaim her independence, she runs into a barrier common to many lifelong New Yorkers: she's never learned to drive. When Wendy hires Darwan to teach her, her unraveling life and his calm restraint seem like an awkward fit. But as he shows her how to take control of the wheel, and she coaches him on how to impress a woman, their unlikely friendship awakens them to the joy, humor, and love in starting life anew.

I've been listening to these two songs a bit lately.  On Google Music, the Johnny Nash (not Cash!) is listed as a Reggae song. And this song by Toots and the Maytals.   According to Wikipedia , it *is* one of their songs and not just a traditional song that they popularized.   But, it is you, indeed... You movie buffs probably remember that versions of both of these songs appeared in the Cusack movie Grosse Point Blank .  I watched part of that movie a few weeks back and remembered what a good soundtrack it had.  Then...added these songs to my 'No Stern Morning' Playlist that I use on my commutes when, as you might guess, Howard isn't on.  

Continuing in the series of Art @ the York film series, the upcoming October run is Best of Enemies.  Here are the posts covering the inaugural July as well as the August and September versions. I took that photo in the morning on my walk to work. With the early fall days starting later, I'm getting A LOT of glare off the posters right now! Best of Enemies is a documentary covering a couple of 'public intellectuals'.   From the Classic Cinemas site : 'Best of Enemies' is a documentary about the legendary series of nationally televised debates in 1968 between two great public intellectuals, the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Intended as commentary on the issues of their day, these vitriolic and explosive encounters came to define the modern era of public discourse in the media, marking the big bang moment of our contemporary media landscape when spectacle trumped content and argument replaced substance. Best of Enemies delves...