Cheap Entertainment

Occasionally, I have nearly panicked looking at this deadline and considered digging through the archives to resurrect a reprint of a movie review column I wrote 15 years ago. But it was typed in Microsoft Word and that disappeared from my computer and when I try to open the document it looks like a speech from Tibet.

Besides that, I’ve discovered exciting new material to review/recommend. This stuff is sorta “dated”. I’ve tried to enjoy contemporary entertainment and have been successful occasionally. Billy Strings is new but plays Bluegrass, so he’s old. I describe him as the new Grateful Dead. His songs often lead to long jams epitomized by the Grateful Dead. But his virtuosity and imagination are jazz-like. He’s worth checking out on Youtube if music is more than just background noise to you.

We wind down before bed with old movies, often taking four sittings to finish one.The back surgeon says there’s nothing he can do so just stay active, then we can’t stay awake for a whole movie.

There’s a series of six movies from the 30s and 40s called The Thin Man available on ok.ru. Nick and Nora Charles are detectives in New York City. They drink a lot and the “cases” they work on usually intrude on their party lives. It’s been almost three years since I got my fake knees. The night before the operation we watched “The Thin Man Goes Home” (1944). Nick and Nora Charles visit his folks in a small town. They happen upon an old acquaintance who says, “Well, cut my legs off and call me Shorty!” There’s a Louis Armstrong title by that name so it must have been a thing back then. Pretty good timing. By the way, the doctor said that once a lady asked if she could take the old knee home for her dog.

Mel Brooks was heavily influenced by this series. A stoved-up old butler answers the door and tells Nick to “walk this way.” Like Igor in “Young Frankenstein,” Nick follows the butler emulating his faltering gait. We found several other examples of Brooks emulating these shows.

These old films rely on ingenuity rather than shallow John Wayne style good guy, bad guy, and computer generated action to hold our attention. Maybe this column is directed to old folks like me. IMDB (Internet Movie Data Base) rated “The Dark Knight” Batman movie highly. We quit watching because it offered nothing but brainless flashy images.

On the other hand, there’s “Car 54 Where Are You” available on Youtube. If you know you only have 25 minutes until sleepy-time, Francis Muldoon and Gunther Toody play New York City cops in 1961 to 1963. A consultant finds that there has not been an arrest in their precinct for years and it’s time they crack down. But then they find that the citizens have such a good relationship with the cops that they don’t commit crimes because they don’t want to disappoint them. In another episode, a coffee shop goes broke and robbers buy it so they can break through the wall into the bank next door. The cops want to help so they show up with tools and volunteer to help remodel it. Eventually the robbers give up and run a legitimate restaurant business.

We are animal lovers so the PBS series, All Creatures Great and Small (season four) is in the DVD player, borrowed from the library. My cousin Fred says he likes British TV because Brits are ugly so they rely on acting and writing rather than the constant procession of Kens and Barbies that pollute American TV. I’ve heard a lot of good things about British TV but the James Herriot veterinary shows are all we’ve gotten around to. The old one and these contemporary ones are good clean fun.

This may not be a speech from Tibet but it’s the best I can offer for now. Happy watching.