CE Wills

     Hey, everyone. A week or so ago, I bought the movie called The Revenant with Leo DiCaprio starring as Hugh Glass. Hugh is a scout, back in the days when the western United States was still inhabited by trappers, the Indians who hated them and a few settlers. We're talking about the days when rifles were single shot affairs and powder and ball were the technology of the wilderness.        Hugh was a 'squaw man'. He was a white man who had lived with the Indians, taken an Indian wife and had a son who was half Indian. Since my grandmother was a full-blooded Cherokee, I find this movie particularly capable of stirring me up.      I didn't go to see this movie at the theater. I had the feeling that it was long and boring, thanks to the reviews. I was pleasantly surprised when it was an excellent show. I love wilderness shows. I love survival shows. I love tales from the old west. (Have written several) I love revenge storie...

Hey, everyone. I had a lazy day today. One which will surely bore you but I'll take that chance and tell you about it. Let me start by telling you about the supper I fixed for my wife and I. We used some potatoes O'Brien, fried in a skillet. You know, with peppers and onions? I cooked them brown, then added a bunch of scrambled eggs, cheese and crumbled up pieces of bacon. Then I cooked it till they were all mushy. Served with toast, covered with apricot preserves and butter. We had some pineapple and grapes on the side. A  big glass of milk to wash it down. Not too shabby. I finished my game. ( Far Cry Primal.) Then we started a new/old game by the name of The Order, 1886. It seems that this game gives us a bit of revisionist history. I have only played Chapter 1, but I'll give some initial impressions. It seems we are in London and a member of a group of men and women who aspire, no, they are, Knights of the Round Table. We play as Galahad, a lion of the aforem...

        Hey, everyone, across the known world. I ventured forth into the haunts of men today. I had to pick up a new pair of spectacles (not shown). I also picked up some new contact lenses. It was a relief to get that chore over with. But the day was not without its pleasures.      I bought the DVD of the latest Star Wars flick. Carley and I had watched it at the theater around the holidays but I'll probably talk about it when I watch it again. When I got home it was blustery and cool but I grilled some steaks. Carley fixed baked taters (southern for potatoes), rolls and salads. She put stuff on the salads until they were a meal. Sure, lettuce, tomato, cheese, grape, pineapple, onion, boiled eggs, strawberry and dressing.     On the steaks I put Cajun, not an actual person but the spice, Greek and Montreal steak spice. The meal was good and I washed had almond-pistachio ice cream for dessert. Then I kicked ...

     Hey, everyone. I had a nice day today. I stayed home all day. I played some songs on the keyboard. Though I had the blues, early in the day, as so often happens, they disappeared as I sang a few songs. Just like Neil Diamond promised. Ha, ha.      After that I played a massive amount of Far Cry Primal. I played for hours, opening up a new territory, just like Lewis and Clark. We played through a quest called something like The Bloodfang Cave. It was good for a Sunday afternoon adventure with minimal risk.       As the evening ripened, we watched a good movie that I had never heard of. It was called The Drop . It starred Tom Hardy as Bob, a bartender in New York. The bar where he works is mob owned and the place is a drop for sports bets, a book as it used to be called. Well, his cousin Marv works there and is needing money. He arranges for some guys to rob the joint and give him (Marv) part of the money.  ...

    Hey, everyone. I watched a terrific, older movie tonight with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. It's called Roman Holiday and begins with Joe Brady (Peck) finding Anne(Hepburn) sleeping on a park bench in Rome. It is late and Joe hates to leave her on the bench. She is scarcely homeless, since she is a Princess who has ran away from home. Princess Anne is weary to death of her velvet prison, the tedium of royal B.S. I'm sure Prince Harry could identify. I would hate to endure the endless boring affairs and social functions. I don't think I would like my underlings telling me what to do and where to go and throwing 'my duty' in my face. Of course, it is very similar with our President, I suppose.       Anyway. Joe doesn't know that she is the Princess of  wherever. He doesn't know that her handlers have given her a sedative. He takes her to his apartment and honorably, some would say stupidly, lets her sleep on his couch. Joe is a report...

     Good evening. What do you get when you have Katherine Hepburn, Robert Taylor and Robert Mitchum together on screen? Well, you get a heck of a good movie called Undercurrent. This movie, which I watched tonight on Turner Classic, was a mystery/ drama. Don't be put off by the slow start. In fact, the beginning seemed rather a silly stab at being cute or funny. I came within an ace of deleting it out of hand. I am so glad I did not. By the way, this movie was from 1946.      Katherine Hepburn stars as Ann, a normal girl-next-door type. Her father is a scholarly gentleman who makes the acquaintance of one of the wealthiest men in the world, a man named Alan Garroway. (Robert Taylor). Everyone is surprised when Alan falls for Ann and marries her. Ann is the most surprised person, as she is not exactly playboy material. Isn't this stupid of humanity? That old stuff of "They could have anyone, why pick that person?" As though looks alone were the e...

    Hey, everyone. I watched a good movie on T.V. tonight. It was made for TV and was never released for the theaters, to my knowledge. The title is After the Storm . I enjoyed it very much and would have to rate it as at least 4 stars out of 5. Here's the recipe.       Benjamin Bratt stars as Arno, a lazy dude who lives in the Bahamas and has his own boat. He scavenges the beaches and makes a few bucks off salvage from sunken ships he finds. He has the hots for a girl called Coquina, (played by Mila Avital) who wants to see the wide world. Arno contents himself in the arms of Janine (played by Simone-Elise Gerard)., until such a time as he can complete the conquest of the younger woman. The problem is, Janine is the wife of Jean Pierre. Jean Pierre is Arno's competitor in the salvage business. Jean Pierre is played by one of my favorite actors, Armand Assante. Nobody plays a scoundrel on the make like Armand.       A ...

      Hey, everyone. Tonight I watched a good movie on television entitled  The Painted Veil . Edward Norton stars as a Doctor named Walter Fane who goes to China for an outbreak of cholera. Dr. Fane is a bacteriologist. The story takes place around 1920. Walter, a proper English bloke,marries a girl named Kitty (Played by Naomi Watts.) before leaving for the Orient. Kitty agrees to marry Walter for that age-old reason, to escape her mother. She is justttttt a wee bit selfish and immature. When she arrives in China she straightaway begins an affair with a colleague of her husband.     When Walter catches the lovers in the act, he volunteers for service in a village swept by cholera, although he is more of a lab guy than an M.D. He forces his wife along for the ride. I really am not sure if his intent is a double suicide via infectious disease or not.       Regardless of intent, they arrive in a grim and tragic mess. There is widespread ...

    Hey, everyone. I watched a good movie this evening and I thought that I would tell you about it. It may have fell through the cracks for you, as it has for me. Despite the fact that I was a movie buff at that time, as well as today, I have never seen the film, until tonight on Turner Classic Movies. It came to the big screen, lo, these many years ago. 1971, to be exact. It was a time of mini-skirts and war in southeast Asia. Jane Fonda had an eye-catching presence in both. She stars as Bree Daniel, an aspiring actress in New York who makes ends meet by being a call girl. She is not a street walker but a highly paid professional of the evening.      A supposed former client of Bree's has gone missing. The man, Tom Gruneman (Robert Mili) has supposedly been sending the call girl creepy letters, but since they are typewritten, it is hard to prove he wrote them. Gruneman is figured to be dead, but his wife hires John Klute (Donald Sutherland) to inve...

     Hey, everyone. I had the pleasure of watching a terrific, older movie tonight on TCM (Turner Classic Movies.) The title is Youngblood Hawke. This is a 1964 work that could best be described as a human drama, I suppose. My reason for watching it was because it was about an author, but I found it to be so well done that anyone could enjoy it.     James Franciscus stars as Youngblood Hawke, a young Kentucky lad who aspires to be a writer. No, that's not fair. He is a writer. He drives a truck for a living but works all night, most nights, writing a massive first novel. He sends it to New York to a publisher, as myself and untold millions of other people have done. (I have a few nice form letters of rejection around here somewhere.)       Mr. Hawke is weary of his life, his job and his bitter mother. His uncle has cheated the Hawke family out of their interest in a coal mining property. She is preparing to bring suit again...

     Hey, everyone. We went to see the movie called Edge of Tomorrow this er... afternoon. Let me give you a few thoughts on the subject.      Normally, I don't care for the "Groundhog's Day" type of shows which feature people having to relive something over and over again. Frankly, that part of the movie which I saw today wasn't my favorite thing either. Other than that, I really liked the film. The special effects were awesome and the two lead actors were exceptional. I liked the story. Goodness knows that there are precious few sci-fi stories that are very good.      Tom Cruise stars as William Cage, a Major in the military. Bill is not really a fighting man. In fact, he is responsible for manipulating the public perception of military activities. I think they call that a "P.R. Man". It is in such a capacity that he comes to the European theater of the desperate war against an invading species of alien life that might ...

         Hey, everyone. Happy Independence Day, to all you folks in the U.S.A.     I forgot to send along my congratulations to my Canadian viewers the other day when I was talking about Wimbledon tennis. Milos Raonic played in the semis and lost to Federer. Eugenie Bouchard is in the finals on Saturday and I'll be pulling for her. Also, Canadian Vasek Pospisil will be in the doubles finals. I get a big charge out of seeing people, athletes and nations make a breakthrough in any field of endeavor. To have both a man and a woman reach the semis at the big W for the first time is awesome. Last year Andy Murray made his breakthrough and I enjoyed that.      This morning I watched Novak Djokovic beat Grigor Dimitrov. I was surprised when Novak allowed himself to get so flustered. I really liked Dimitrov's demeanor. All business, hustle and energy. He didn't really seem to play tight at all, despite the big stage. ...

    Good evening, and welcome to the author's green retreat. Tonight I had the privilege to watch a very good movie entitled The Man with a Cloak . It is the story of a failed poet in New York City circa 1848. He is a charming rascal called Dupin. He meets a young French woman named Madeline Minot, played by the lovely Leslie Caron. Madeline has just arrived in the states from France, at the behest of her fiance. She goes to the mansion of Charles Thevenet, her fiance's wealthy grandfather. (Played by (Louis Calhern.)      When she finds Thevernet old, sick and being cared for by servants that want him dead, she enlists the aid of Dupin. (Played by Joseph Cotton). Dupin and the girl quickly run afoul of housekeeper Lorna Bounty (Played by Barbara Stanwyck) and butler Martin (played by Joe De Santis.)      There are a multitude of surprises in store for the poet and the young woman. Mr. Thevernet is being denied his medicine and ...

     Hey, everyone. This evening I watched an excellent, and bizarre, older movie from 1951. It is titled Another Man's Poison and stars the late and great Bette Davis and the talented Gary Merrill. Merill plays a bank robber named George Bates. He has robbed a bank with Janet Frobisher's husband and is supposed to meet Frobisher at his estate. When he gets there he discovers that Frobisher's wife (Bette Davis) has disposed of his friend by poisoning him. She is a successful author and the marriage has been on the rocks, much like their house.      Janet is a master manipulator and cons George into disposing of her husband's body. George, in turn, gets to pose as Mr. Frobisher, without the side benefits he might have liked. The byplay between two evil people who will stop at nothing to escape justice and enjoy their undeserved rewards from life is very entertaining.     As the show proceeds, there are more twists to the plot than...

    Hey, everyone. I had a bit of a technical problem earlier with a post, so if it looks like a duplicate post has went out tonight, it probably has.      My wife saves things that most people don't save and I like that. For instance, she has a grocery store bag from 1984, a store called Dillon's, in Kansas. Yes, they still had paper bags at that time and this one had a public service message on it. In color, no less.     We had spent time up north prior to this, while in the military, so we weren't all too shocked at the tough winters. We were impressed with some of the tips on the bag, and their sound advice. Especially the 'stranded kit'. Most people in Kansas kept a kit in their car during the winter. It was one you put together, not a kit prepackaged. There would be blankets, heat candles, flares, water, food etc.     We had ours and it looked mighty good one night when I was caught out in a blizzard, 50 miles f...

   If I may, I'd like to warn you of spoilers in this post. The reading of this post would hamper the enjoyment of the movie I am discussing. I hate that, but I wanted to talk about it, without holding back, so be warned. I actually wrote this post on Monday, the 13th, but was of a mind to delete it.  At any rate, here it is.      Hey, everyone. It has been a cool, rainy day at the author's green retreat. Carley and I opted to venture forth into the wilds of society and go to a movie. To my chagrin, there was a limited number of films that called for my visual caress. Therefore, I rolled the dice for a film titled Saving Mr. Banks. What an odd show!     I found it depressing in the extreme, thought provoking and entertaining. All at once. I would have gladly left the theater at the half-way point or even later. Yet I liked it. Here's the recipe.     This is the story of Mary Poppins, in a way. It seems that the...

     Hey, everyone. I watched a good movie tonight. I think you might like to see it. It is Night Falls On Manhattan . It stars Andy Garcia as an idealistic young lawyer who is just starting to work as an Assistant District Attorney. His dad is a cop in New York and he was too, until he landed the new gig.      You may remember the days when you were a young idealist. Very few arrive at an age where they can be called an old idealist. It is a dangerous business, being idealistic. Not many people will love you and fewer still will want to hang with you. Heck, they know you'd send them down the river too, because "It's the right thing to do." But I digress.      So, Andy Garcia plays Sean Casey. Sean is only a few months into his career with the D.A. when his dad is shot during a drug bust. He survives but three other cops die during the raid.      The dealer hires the best lawyer in town, Sam Vigoda. (Play...

     Hey, everyone. I hope that your New Year is going well. I really mean that and I'm not just saying it.     The weather here is a bummer tonight. We have snow on the ground, along with a 15MPH wind and temperatures which will drop into the low teens. But, that just makes it seem more snug here inside the Green Retreat. Things are not so green outside at the moment, however.     Winter used to depress me when I was younger. Somewhere amidst all the trials and tribulations of my life, I got to the point where it just quit bothering me. Why? I don't know but I suspect that I merely became a bit more resilient to ...life. As the saying goes, "Suffering produces perseverance and perseverance produces character". Also I have learned that regular exercise helps your mental outlook. When the endorphins kick in during exercise, it's a good thing for one's mood.       I started reading a new book yesterday. The...

    Hey, everyone. Carley and I went to the theater the other night and saw the latest Keanu Reeves flick entitled 47 Ronin . We both liked it and I'd recommend it as an action film or a romance.    I have always loved Japanese movies and have been fascinated by that culture since Shogun . I liked Last Samauri as well.     The story takes place several hundred years ago and involves a halfbreed guy who is not a samurai and is therefore treated about as well as navel lint by the ruling class. He has had the misfortune(?) to fall in love with the local princess, Mika (Ko Shibasaki). Her dad runs the province of Ako as a Daimyo, under the rule of the  Shogun.     One of the interesting aspects of the movie is the fantasy side of it. I don't mean like a Britney Spears/Miley Cyrus fantasy, but rather a magic, sword and sorcery thing. For instance, there is a fox that appears as a sort of bad omen. It is white and has one eye th...

     Hey, everyone. Tonight we watched an entertaining film on TV called Feds. It stars Mary Gross as Janis Zuckerman, an F.B.I. trainee who befriends Ellie Dewitt (Played by Rebecca DeMornay). The two women have the temerity to enter the agency's tough training course and have to endure all the sexist B.S. associated with male-dominated trades.     The two ladies are light-years apart in personalities and skills, which helps them cope with life in the fast lane of law enforcement. Jane is a book nerd, brilliant and reserved. Her roomie is Ellie, an ex-Marine with spunk, attitude, street smarts and guts. Together they can manage to do more than survive at the academy; they flourish.      Ellie must help her pardner with things like weapons training, P.T. and cuffing criminals. Janis must help the book- challenged Ellie with her studies. As the ranks of their particular class are decimated by a 75% washout rate, the two females m...