by bob_oganovic | Mar 8, 2020 | Movies
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) Mary Badham as Scout and Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch Listen to the theme from "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Elmer Bernstein https://blog.oganovic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Main-Title-To-Kill-a-Mockingbird-Elmer-Bernstein.mp3...
by bob_oganovic | Mar 8, 2020 | Movies
The Big Lebowski (1993) Messrs. Bridges, Buscemi and Goodman at the bowling alley The story of “The Dude” was not wildly successful in its initial release, but it has since grown into a place on everyone’s short list of cult classics. The film is now...
by bob_oganovic | Mar 7, 2020 | Movies
Schindler’s List (1993) Wartime photo from the actual Plaszow labor camp The late film critic Roger Ebert said about Schindler’s List and its director, Stephen Spielberg: The French author Flaubert once wrote that he disliked Uncle Tom’s Cabin because the...
by bob_oganovic | Mar 7, 2020 | Movies
Godfather I/II/III (1972, 1974, 1990) There have been books and movies aplenty about the mafia, but Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy had a particularly epic quality. The cast, the settings, the period costumes, and the scripts with their innumerable...
by bob_oganovic | Mar 7, 2020 | Movies
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) There are so many topics about life in general interwoven here — friendship, racism, aging, self-image, marriage, conforming to expectations — all handled with thoughtfulness and dry humor and spanning a long timeline across...
by bob_oganovic | Mar 2, 2020 | Movies
Dr. Strangelove (1964) Peter Sellers as ex-Nazi scientist Dr. Strangelove This dark cold war comedy presents Peter Sellers playing multiple characters. In this scene, his flat American accent and bald spot makeup portray the US President (some say Sellers modeled...
by bob_oganovic | Mar 2, 2020 | Books, Movies
A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nazar Economists are an easy profession to poke fun at. There’s an old joke: Q: What’s the definition of an economist?A: Someone who didn’t have the personality to become an accountant. Then there is the quote attributed to...
by bob_oganovic | Mar 2, 2020 | Movies
When Harry Met Sally (1989) This rom-com — probably my wife’s favorite movie of all time — purports to address (if not answer) the ever-vexing question: can men and women ever really be friends without romance (and whatever follows) mucking things...
by bob_oganovic | Mar 2, 2020 | Movies
Wadjda (2013) Can a young girl and her bicycle speak volumes about the universal aspiration for freedom of movement? Especially in the extremely conservative monarchy/theocracy that is Saudi Arabia? A place the where improvement in women’s lives has moved at a...
by bob_oganovic | Mar 1, 2020 | Movies
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) I have a theory as to the success of this movie. Yes, you can’t help but love the story of an underdog triumphant, and there were engaging performances by all of the principals — Richard Gere, Louis Gossett Jr., and Debra...
by bob_oganovic | Feb 25, 2020 | Movies, Popular Music
Jersey Boys (soundtrack) ~ Oh, What a Night ~ (2005) The “original” Four Seasons This clip shows the “big finish” from the movie Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. This segment arguably deserves a special place in...
by bob_oganovic | Feb 24, 2020 | Movies
Blazing Saddles (1974) This movie is peerless (and fearless) in its unapologetic send-up of political INcorrectness — while at the same time serving as an homage to the American western. Forty-plus years later it still makes me howl with scenes of: KKK robes...
by bob_oganovic | Feb 24, 2020 | Classical Music, Movies
Chariots of Fire (1981) If, as I noted elsewhere on this blog, Blazing Saddles always makes me laugh, then Chariots of Fire is the counterpoint – a film that always makes me cry. This is an all-too-rare movie about people of faith struggling with their beliefs...
by bob_oganovic | Feb 21, 2020 | Movies, Popular Music
Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire ~ (2009) “Bollywood” movies are being welcomed in the US, and among the most popular has been Slumdog. It opened my eyes to both the mystery, the promise and enigma that is India. The movie also took an unusual approach in...
by bob_oganovic | Feb 19, 2020 | Movies
Boyhood (2014) If there were ever a movie for which the term “one-of-a-kind” applies this is it. So far as I can tell nothing like this has ever been seen before nor could it likely ever be replicated — the same actors playing the same characters in...
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