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The Expendables (2010)
Dir: Sylvester Stallone
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture and Eric Roberts

Is this film a “skip”?  No!  At least not for me it isn’t, because I love the movies I mention in the title above… well, I sort of like them.  Here’s the thing, you’re either in the mood for seeing butts kicked, testosterone O-D’ing heroes bonding and things blown up – or your not.  When I saw The Expendables, I really wasn’t in the mood.

Consider the movies I’ve mentioned in the title: these are decent action movies for sure, but they’re not classic.  I think The Expendables was brilliant from a marketing standpoint: by including each and every major action star from the past two decades, suddenly this film became an “instant classic”, a must-see, a movie all the cool kids were going to see!  But really, it’s no classic at all, is it?  Once again ol’ Burke was duped by the killer cast!!  The story to the film is flimsy: believe me when I say the interaction of the stars was much more interesting than the story, which involves a fictional island country with a “real-life” C.I.A. baddie corrupting its dictator General.  Who else can save the day but (drum roll), The Expendables!

I give credit to Stallone for staying so true to his genre lo these many years.  I was impressed with Jason Statham’s action sequences – that guy is one hell of a stunt man.  The best dialogue surrounded Randy Couture’s (see note 1) character’s cauliflower ear. And I was relieved to see Mickey Rourke and Dolph Lungdren keep up with the acting prowess of the rest of the cast.  In the end, I’m glad I saw the movie: and it has one of the best posters for a film in a long time – I mean, it’s a skull in front of a pair of wings made out of weapons!

Note 1: I have seen both Mr. Couture and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in person.  Let me just say that these MMA’ers have intimidating physiques.  They are like small, compact, muscular bombs in circular form, like The Incredible Hulk, meaning that they look like they could explode into action at any second.  I suppose that’s the point of their training?  I dunno.

For those of you who are not fans of Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Casino – and of course, the epic classic Heat – read no further.

For those of you who are fans of the films listed above, get ready to have the same reaction you had when production on a little film called The Departed was announced:

http://www.deadline.com/?s=the+irishman

It seems Mr. DeNiro, Mr. Pesci – AND Mr. Pacino (this news from another source as of today, which I’m trying to find more details on) – have been cast in Mr. Scorsese’s next film, The Irishman, about a WWII vet who becomes a mob hitman, based on a novel.  Scorsese’s movie is not to be confused with Kill the Irishman, which looks equally exciting and impeccable and stars my old friend Ray Stevenson (you might remember him as Titus Pullo from HBO’s Rome?):

Kill the Irishman Trailer

Please excuse me, but I am going to have to go take a walk to contain my excitement.  Thanks for reading!

Sin Nombre (2009, Mexico)
Dir: Cary Fukunaga
Stars: Edgar Flores, Paulina Gaitan, Diana Garcia and Kristian Ferrer

Terribly Happy (2008, Denmark)
Dir: Henrik Ruben Genz
Stars: Jakob Cedergren, Lene Maria Christensen, Kim Bodnia and Jens Jorn Spottag

A Prophet (2009, France)
Dir: Jacques Audiard
Stars: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif and Leila Bekhti

I was reviewing some of my old posts and I just couldn’t believe I hadn’t made any entries for foreign films yet!  In my opinion, foreign films are really fun because the rules that apply to American films don’t apply to foreign films.  I’ll elaborate as I go along here, but I’m going to comment on these three that I’ve seen over the past several weeks as a starter: long and short, I hope you decide to try a foreign film from Netflix or your local rental store soon, particularly if you feel “bored with the same old stuff” you’ve been seeing lately.  See the links below for trailers to these three titles, too.

Sin Nombre  
When I was in high school, I went on a summer Mission Trip to San Antonio, TX and Matamoros, Mexico.  We did a lot of good, but I bring it up because Sin Nombre reminded me of the little trip we took into south San Antonio and neighborhoods run by street gangs.  Our tour guide, an outreach/non-profit manager and ex-gang member, was calling out points of interest: “There’s the basketball courts.  Those guys playing are the lieutenants in the NDs – they’re called NDs because they like Notre Dame – and those kids watching by the park benches are guarding them.  See how they got backpacks on?  School’s out, man…”  We went up another couple streets and suddenly we were in another territory.  And so it went for the whole afternoon.

It seems gangs work much the same way in Honduras, where we meet “El Casper”, also known as “Willy” to his girlfriend, who does whatever tasks his leader asks him to do.  Talk about an intimidating supporting actor: the leader of “La Mara” gang has an “M” and and “S” tattooed all the way down his face (see the trailer link below).  Much of the leader’s body is covered in tattoos (like the Maori warriors of New Zealand, I think?).  An example of one task given to El Casper, is to have the new little kid they’re recruiting shoot a captured rival with a homemade shotgun.  As an initiation, most of the gang punches and kids the new kid for a full 13 second count.  Lovely.  There is another storyline, which involves a Mexican girl named Sayra and her father and uncle as they try to ride the trains north to Matamoros and then somehow find their way to New Jersey where the uncle’s family lives. 

And now we come to one reason I love foreign films so much: the two stories are intertwined when La Mara’s leader takes El Casper to hop the train and rob the immigrants headed north!  Of what, I’m wondering?  Who would have seen this coming?  Not only am I learning about how others live by Sin Nombre, but the film is keeping me on my toes by using unconventional story techniques: if you can’t tell, I highly recommend this title (but if you’re not into violent stories, SKIP).

Sin Nombre Trailer

Terribly Happy
If I was a producer from Denmark trying to convince a U.S. distributor to pick up Terribly Happy, I’d simply say, “It’s Thornton Wilder’s Our Town meets the Coen Brothers’ Blood Simple.  Here’s a pen for you to sign.”  This movie is about a Copenhagen cop who “made a mistake” and has been demoted to the post of marshall at a creepy little village in the north.  The townspeople are downright rude.  The weather is offensively cold.  The town is like a Lego town: small.  There’s one of everything: one bar, one doctor, one general store, one road…  But, one thing there’s plenty of is trouble.  There is a “bog”, where apparently many of the town’s problems are handled.  There is a promiscuous, maybe even mentally ill, beautiful woman who’s married to a drunk.  Whenever this husband beats the wife, their little girl walks around town with her teddy bear in her baby carriage, which squeaks ever so softly!  And everybody is aware of what’s going on… yet no one does anything about it until the marshall arrives. 

I love Terribly Happy because it provides such great support of why you should try a few foreign films: you can never count on who’s going to live and who’s going to buy it.  If you’re watching a Tom Hanks film, chances are he’s going to live.  With foreign films, no one is safe: and furthermore, you have no predetermined notion of who this character is.  Think about that: you know how a “Tom Cruise role” should go.  But with a foreign film like Terribly Happy, you’re watching and kinda getting the hang of the storyline and then someone dies: someone who’s been built up and you’re invested in and you never would have guessed would die.  The resolution of this film was interesting too in its creepiness, and if you see it I’m sure you’ll agree.

Terribly Happy Trailer

A Prophet
I’ve done a bit of reading on true crime and how criminals think: this film is essentially a study in the transition from a “B Dog” prisoner/convict to the “A Dog”.  Did you know that in France, once you’ve served a large portion of your prison term – and you’ve been a good boy during that time – you actually get to leave jail for a day and come back to it at 7pm?  I sure as hell didn’t know that! 

But the convict who runs the jail in A Prophet definitely knows this rule: and he needs this new prisoner, who straddles the worlds of Arabs and Corsicans, to keep business running for him.  We never know what the young man, named Malik, was convicted of, but we know very well that he wants to survive.  He does just that – survives – as the film moves along… as more Muslims enter the jail… as the Corsicans try to betray him… as other “A Dogs” perish in knife fights… and as “the Godfather” of the jail grows older.  I find it absolutely incredible how a film maker can make me care so much about a prisoner in a French pen: despite the ultra-violence and length of play, I think you’d appreciate watching A Prophet. 

A Prophet Trailer

The Bucket List (2007)
Dir: Rob Reiner
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes and Rob Morrow

Talk about a film with lots of pluses and plenty of minuses.  Let’s delve into the positives of The Bucket List first, shall we?  The storyline surrounding two unlikely hospital-mates struggling with cancer has the making of a great story to be sure.  The release date of the movie coming around Christmas is another plus.  It sure didn’t hurt to have such legendary talent in the top two roles.  I think the fact that both of these actors are over 60 is another immense benefit to the film: I’m not kidding when I say that too often Hollywood puts the over 50 crowd last on its list of movie audiences, which is a real shame I think (see note 1).  Regardless, we have Nicholson type cast as the crusty, old, don’t-F-with-me billionaire who suffers the agony of not only having cancer – but a roomate too (which is the result of his own silly rules as the owner of the hospital – a little kharma for you there, Jack).  Then of course, we have Freeman as the life-long mechanic, who worked his whole life for the benefit of his wife and kids.  He prides himself on his continued education and is always playing trivia, reading books or watching Jeopardy!  Put these two together and what’d’ya got?  A holiday movie! 

However.  The whole thing seemed a little predictable, didn’t it?  Did you feel like you knew where they were going and you were just supposed to “enjoy the ride”?  On another note, I have an overall complaint with recent movies that many of them seem to completley skip the script revision stage.  I am not saying this was a poorly constructed story, but it could have used some improvement, right?  I don’t think Ebert was off in his review when he complained that it seemed awfully Hollywood to have Nicholson vomitting in his hospital bathroom on page 29 only to be skydiving with Freeman a few pages later!  And another thing: why was it essential for Nicholson to be a billionaire?  In other words, why did they have to run all over the world?  Why couldn’t they have done many of the things on the actual “List” locally???  For that matter, why did Freeman’s character have a family?  I really didn’t care for the scene in which he told his wife that he’s running off for a while (granted, I’ve never been close to his character’s position).  My point is how much more interesting might it have been if Freeman’s character was a priest, a preacher, a pastor?  It would have saved us the scene with Freeman shoving his wife and family aside and it might have opened the door to some interesting and quality – not cliche – dialogue about “what it all means” with their characters.  It’s a thought, that’s all.

In the end, this film is a perfect example of why I find it impossible to give a movie “stars”.  How many stars does The Bucket List get?  I don’t know!  If I saw this with my parents, I’d be apt to give it more stars than I might watching it alone.  I think if you, dear Reader, were to watch this little drama, you’d be entertained – but you’d probably agree that it kind of missed the mark, too.

Note 1: My comment surrounding the audiences of movies and the over-60 stars is summed up this way: we’re always reading about the next Iron Man movie, the latest Pixar film and who’s sleeping with who in Hollywood.  But I’m always wondering why there aren’t “medium sized pictures” targetting the over 50 crowd.  It’s not like there aren’t plenty of real issues that folks go through in that stage of their lives: health issues, retirement transitions, the coming of grandkids and the passing of friends.  Outside of The Bucket List, how many films aimed at an aging audience can you name from the past five years?

Die Hard (1987)
Dir: John McTiernan
Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, Reginald VelJohnson and Robert Davi

In an effort to cover several great Christmas movies this holiday season, I’m going to take a slight step backwards from Miracle on 34th Street, which is all about Santa Claus and good will towards men, and reset with Die Hard.  I think we can agree that calling Die Hard a Christmas movie is a little outside the box.  Some of you will argue that this isn’t a Christmas movie at all: in my opinion, this is most definitely a Christmas movie (see Note 1). 

After all, the story takes place exclusively on Christmas Eve.  There’s a New York cop arriving into L.A. in the first scene: right away we know that this cop, John McClane, doesn’t like to fly.  Will this be the only chink in McClane’s armor?  We’ll soon see… but the point is that he has his weaknesses, just like us.  It seems this cop has come out to L.A. to visit with his estranged wife and their kids for the holiday.  A limo has been sent to greet him, and as he rides along we get a first glimpse at the Nakatomi Tower, which is the office building that will provide the setting for the rest of the story.  Right off the bat we’ve got three elements that are trustworthy ingredients for a fun movie: a hero we can relate to, a special time of year (what’s better than Dec 24?) and a unique setting in an office building that’s still under construction.  So, what’s the problem?

Enter… HANS.  More specifically, Hans Gruber – masterfully played by Alan Rickman with the snotty accent, elitist clothing and all – a terrorist from Germany who has decided to quit the whole terrorist gig and go the robbery route.  Hans brings a bunch of mercenaries with him to take over the Nakatomi building on Christmas Eve and make a small “withdrawl” of negotiable bearer bonds from the Nakatomi vault.  Put it this way, if things go right, they’ll make the roof explode (thereby making the police think all the terrorists went up with the explosion) and “be sitting on a beach, earning 20%” off the bearer bonds.  Needless to say, John McClane is the “fly in the ointment” to Hans’ plans.  At the end of Act I, McClane alerts his presence to Hans by putting a dead terrorist in an elevator and writing in marker on the deceased’s torso, “Now I have a machine gun… Ho Ho Ho” (can’t you just hear Hans’ voice with that line?)…

The plot is pretty good in my estimation: you’ve got the story on a clock, you’ve got the blue-collar no-bullshit cop/hero vs. the sociopath full-of-shit terrorist/villain and a setting and time that gives them a lot of fun stuff to work with.  On top of a great story comes some damn good dialogue: I’m not going to spend time on this element because you probably know all the great ones anyhow!  But if you choose to check this title out this December, think of the movie along the lines of the season: as Hans tells one of his fellow thieves at one point, “It’s Christmas, Theo, it’s the time for miracles.”

Centurion (2010)
Dir: Neil Marshall
Stars: Michael Fassbender, Dominic West and Olga Kurylenko

This entry might be my most abbreviated because the nature of Centurion is so straight forward: you’re either in, or you’re out!  Do you like Roman movies?  Do you like Scottish topography and scenery?  Do you like sword and sandal epics with PLENTY of bloody gore to fit the battle scenes?  Then look no further than Centurion!  All I will tell you about the story is that it’s a “behind enemy lines” kind of deal.  Way back in Emperor Hadrian’s time, there’s a Roman garrison on the northern border of the empire, in what we call Britain.  There, a legion has decided to finally take out these guerrilla enemies to the north called the Picts.  When the Roman legion moves north to knock out the Picts, they don’t do so well – and about seven of them are left behind the lines to rescue their legion’s general!   RUH ROH….  Part of the reason I liked the movie so much was because it stars Dominic West of The Wire fame and Olga Kurylenko who was in the second Bond movie with Daniel Craig: they both really showed me something in this film.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/centurion/

The trailer does a very, very capable job of presenting this story and what the audience member is getting into with this picture.  Despite the poster image Apple has, this movie is not animated – be advised, please…  In fact, let me make ultra-super-duper-uber clear, this is a RATED R FEATURE!  Put your children in bed and seal the door when this movie is on, because the battle scenes are slightly intense…

Note 1: Marshall directed another “suspense/thriller” (or if you call it what it is, a HORROR film) called The Descent, in which several women on a girls-only vacation go spelunking in the Carolina hills only to be surprised by what they find in the caves.  The movie has creatures, which are scary, but also deals with real-life phobias, like clausterphobia…  If this sounds good to you, believe me it is (and horror is not my preferred genre as you’ve no doubt guessed by now).

Winter’s Bone
Dir: Debra Granik
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Dale Dickey and Garrett Dillahunt

The Ozark mountains are inhabited by the same kinds of people that grew up in the Louisiana swamp or the Hawaiian Islands or the Oklahoma plains, or even Siberia: they know how to live in their environment and survive and I don’t.  However, in focusing on the Ozark residents, I have great admiration and respect for the kinds of things they do to stay alive.  Like hunting squirrels, giving the horse they can’t feed to their neighbor so it doesn’t starve and sleeping together (not in a gross way, in a survival way) to keep warm.  These are folks I want to root for.  Their neighbors – and sometimes their fellow family members – that cook methamphetamine to cut corners, I do not like or respect.

Without the meth cookers, Ree Polly, played magnificently and maturely by Jennifer Lawrence (see note 1), wouldn’t go on the little adventure this story concerns.  The first few scenes, like so many independent films (see my entry on Frozen River), are very stark, efficient (in that they waste no time) and plot driven.  In Winter’s Bone, these Act 1 scenes introduce Ree Polly’s situation: her Mother, poor woman, has gone a little ill in the head from her Father’s behavior.  The local sheriff (the consistent Deadwood alumni Garrett Dillahunt) comes to advise Ree that her Dad skipped bail and that their family could lose the house in about a week’s time as a result.  If he’s alive, he needs to come in.  Have I mentioned that Ree is seventeen years old?  Oh!  And she’s caring for her twelve year old brother and her seven year old sister.  Even though she desperately needs to find her Dad, Ree makes these kids a priority: I’ll use the example of her showing them how to make deer stew (I’m not making this up) in one scene.

I suppose the resulting story might be called an odyssey in that we meet some very curious cats along the way as Ree searches for her Dad.  You might also call it a private eye film because of its investigative nature.  But I have to say, I was gripped by this story from start to finish.  I think it’s a natural thing to want to know the secret, to wonder what goes on in those creepy woods and how exactly these people make ends meet.  Winter’s Bone does a great job of answering these questions in a very entertaining and engaging way.  Let me give an example of one other scene to demonstrate that despite Ree’s limited understanding of things, she asks the questions, digests the information and keeps going.  She figures she should join the Army.  Why?  Because she’ll get forty thousand dollars cash money to do so!  Unfortunately, Ree has no clue whatsoever the commitment involved to receive that sum of money.  The Sergeant interviewing her at the local Army office is very sincere in his answers, bless him.  He helps Ree understand the commitment she’s diving into in that she won’t be able to leave at night to take care of her brother and sister.  This fact might seem obvious to you and I: but that’s the cool thing about the heroine in Winter’s Bone.  Ree knows it now, she understands it, digests it, and most importantly, starts to brainstorm new ideas for her family’s survival.

I can’t remember which early film icon said this, but they were quoted as saying, “A good film has three great scenes and no bad ones.”  Welp, Winter’s Bone fits that category, and believe me, it has several great scenes.  Instead of watching yet another episode of NCIS or Law and Order, why not pick this one up?

Note 1: I look up a lot of material after I see a swell movie like this one, and my jaw did the proverbial drop when I saw some of Miss Lawrence’s other headshots and promotional photos: she is one gorgeous woman that really embodied the character (no makeup, blood on her sleeve if the scene called for it, etc). 

Note 2: I particularly like movies like Winter’s Bone because they force the viewer to look at a community in a new way.  It’s virtually impossible to point to the map and say, “Arksansas!  HA!  Bunch of hilljacks!” after watching this movie.  The characters in this film aren’t statistics and they aren’t stereotypes: they’re people just like the rest of us.

Black Swan (2010)
Director: Darren Aronovsky
Stars: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, MILA KUNIS, Winona Ryder and Barbara Hershey

Before seeing Black Swan, I knew very little about Swan Lake, the famous ballet.  That said, Mr. Aronovsky’s film helped educate me on what goes on behind the scenes of a ballet production.  The preparation and work involved is simply staggering.  Watching it, I had a great deal of appreciation for the artists, choreographers and musicians that participate to bring Swan Lake and similar ballet productions to the stage.  The physical and mental anguish amongst the participants of a ballet is apparently pretty serious fuel for a dramatic fire.

But let me admit to you that I was downright terrified while watching most of this film.  In all fairness, I think it’s important you try and catch the trailer (see Note 1) to Black Swan before jumping into its river of madness feet first while pinching your nostrils together.  When I watched the trailer for the first time last summer, I went from feelings of uneasiness to squeamishness to physically putting my fists in front of my face: when I watched the movie, the same things happened in various regularity for two hours.  If you liked Silence of the Lambs, The Shining and Mr. Aronovsky’s previous titles like The Wrestler (see Note 2)and Requiem for a Dream, you should enjoy this film.  Immensely!

What’s it about?  In short, ballet and mental illness.  The storyline concerns Nina (Portman) and her ambitious desire to be the head dancer of her company.  The director of the company (Cassel) kicks the current star (Ryder) to the curb to make room for Nina.  So, what’s the problem?  Lilly (KUNIS) fresh in from San Francisco’s company could potentially steal the job from Nina.  Why?  Glad you asked – because the next ballet the company is to perform will be Swan Lake.  The White Swan portion of the ballet would be absolutely ideal for a technically perfect performer like Nina: but the Black Swan, to be played by the same dancer, requires powers of seduction and some really elaborate eye makeup, for which Lilly would be much better suited.

Dear, oh dear: this is when things start to go a little bonkers (in a great, thriller/suspense kind of way).  They need Nina to be both the innocent White Swan and the devilish Black one, huh?  Aronovsky wastes no time in convincing us that Nina is losing it.  Like going absolutely mental hospital-Shutter Island-type crazy.  I’m not kidding here – when we start to see rashes on her flesh from Nina’s scratching herself, dark versions of herself in shadowed streets and hallucinations – some of which include Lilly – I think you start to get the hint as to how far off the reservation poor Nina has wandered. 

To say that Portman’s performance is impressive is a gross understatement: Miss Portman worked her tail off for this role, it shows and she deserves the kudos she seems to be getting already.  Bottom line – if you like some of the films I mentioned above and the trailer didn’t make you frown more intensely the more you watched it and adjust yourself repeatedly in your seat, maybe Black Swan is for you.

Note 1 – A convenient link to the trailer:  Black Swan Trailer 

I actually really like this trailer and the poster to the film as an exemplary case of providing the audience with the proper information to decide whether or not they’re interested in the film.  This is a personal perspective, but sometimes I feel movie ads simply show “the good stuff” and do not accurately convey what you’re getting into with a film.  I’m probably not alone in that sentiment, but regardless, if you’re creeped out by Miss Portman’s red eyes and bizarre makeup in the poster, that’s probably a noteworthy warning sign that you wouldn’t enjoy this film!  So go see Narnia 3 in a few days instead!!

Note 2 – the parallels from Black Swan to The Wrestler are numerous, parallels which Mr. Aronovsky openly admits.  I think it’s fair to say that they’re both biographical films.  They both showcase the extreme ends that these performers endure for their sport or art.  Even the camera angle in which we literally follow the main character around seems to be a technique Aronovsky often uses to force his audience to “walk a mile in their shoes.”  In short, I think it would be a fascinating study to watch these films one after the other…

Miracle on 34^th Street (1947)
*** Burke Favorite ***
Dir: George Seaton
Stars: Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall and Natalie Wood

So, at the Marksity House, there are certain absolutes.  One of the absolutes is the manner in which Thanksgiving is celebrated.  For years and years we have begun the day with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, albeit watching much of it on “mute” so as not to allow the exorbitant amount of commercials to dampen our good holiday cheer.  Actually, let me amend this so-called absolute to include only the Rockettes’ performance and the appearance of Santa Claus.  Regardless, we typically have a breakfast of the freshly baked Serbian bread Kolach with coffee (very black) and some assorted fruits and jams.  At the end of the parade, after we’ve seen Santa on that ridiculous Goose-sled they usually insist on using, we Marksity Men put on our outdoor clothes and get outside in the weather.  Sometimes it’s unseasonably warm, while other times it’s bitter cold, but regardless the temperature, we move and chop wood – and sometimes throw that pigskin around, if time allows.  While Brody the Bearded Collie jumps around us, we Marksity Men drag wood down from the side of our hill and proceed to chop it up with axes and chain saws (we even used a two man “analog” saw one year like the lumberjacks use). 

Now, while we’re outside doing all this wood-chopping and hauling up to the deck, Mama Marksity is inside listening to the National Dog Show on T.V. while she talks to herself about recipe related items and puts the finishing touches on all the side dishes to the meal!  You see, the Bird (capitalization intended) is already baking and smelling up the whole joint and the pies are always completed on the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving…  I kid you not, I once saw my Mom assemble a Pecan Pie (capitalization intended) and stuff it in the oven during a commercial break!  My point is that we Marksitys have our Thanksgiving traditions as I’m sure you have yours.  One of the “absolutes” outside those already mentioned, which we started years and years ago, was to conclude Thanksgiving Day with a viewing of the holiday classic, Miracle on 34^th Street.

Why this movie, you ask?  Glad you did!  The film concerns the very belief in Santa Claus, for one.  The film’s first Act is almost entirely consumed by the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, for another.  The story and its assorted characters are, dare I say it, infectious.  The individual scenes are classic: think of the one in which Fred Gailey, the nice gent in the apartment across the hall, takes little seven year old Susan “My Mom buys my clothes here at Macy’s with 10% off” Walker to see Santa Claus.  Ol’ Santa finishes with the tot before Susan and then says to her, “What’s your name?”  She replies, “Susan Walker, what’s yours?”  Well, Santa looks at Gailey, and Gailey gives Kris Kringle the slightest, deadpan shrug ever – it’s hilarious!  I’ll stop while I’m ahead: hopefully I’ve whetted your appetite for this picture, despite the tardiness of my posting this year due to “technical difficulties” with this here blog-thing.  If you didn’t happen to watch Miracle on 34^th Street last weekend, believe me, it is a most appropriate way to begin your holiday season. 

Important Disclaimer: By the way, allow me to make this super-duper clear: this entire entry is most definitely specific to the 1947, black and white version of the film.  As far as I’m concerned, there are no other versions of this film in existence (with apologies to Richard Attenborough and all those involved in the so-called “re-makes”… hell, I think they’d agree with me!).

Thanksgiving Quote for you:”There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to. … Thanksgiving Day … is the one day that is purely American.”  — O. Henry, American writer

So, we (*) here at ronhamprod.com would like to thank you for our patience as we have finally resolved our “technical difficulties” and are now back in business as the saying goes.  Stay tuned for more great blog entries and commentaries to come.  In the meantime, feel free to comment with ease!

(*) When I say “we”, I mean just me.