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“Those Who Remained” is a film about Hungarian people who survived the Holocaust physically but not quite mentally and they are now caught up in a Communist regime.

 

It focuses on a 42-year-old gynecologist doctor, who lost his wife and two children, and a 16-year-old orphan who has not faced up to the fate of her parents and is brought to the clinic by an aunt because the girl has not gone through puberty yet.

 

To tell any more would be giving spoilers so all I can do is give my reaction to the movie. I thought I knew where the relationship between the doctor Aldo and the teenager Klara was heading and though I wasn’t far off I found myself not reacting which was very puzzling to me as it takes very little to get me involved emotionally with characters in films.

 

Karoly Hajduk, as Aldo and Abigel Szoke as Klara, do an excellent job, especially the latter who shows her changes physically and mentally with her face and body plus a nod to the hairdresser!

 

I am on the fence about recommending “Those Who Remained” simply because the director and screenwriters did not ‘get’ to me though at 83 minutes it does tackle a theme not often touched upon.

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 For many years I have stood up for seeing a movie in a theatre on the big screen it is made for. I am, also, a big backer of the #MeToo movement.

 

I have seen 9 movies so far this year and can only recommend two: “Clemency” and “Just Mercy”. Both have excellent performances by the actors and though the latter tackles an often told story it is approached with an intensity that takes you into the hearts and minds of the characters while the former takes us into a world that hasn’t often been explored.

 

The other 7 have either been a waste of time or a waste of money or a waste of time and money! “The Assistant” is both though it is one of the latest to tackle the the #MeToo movement. I was looking forward to seeing Julia Garner as I watched her in the Netflix series “Ozarks” and was intrigued by her performance. In a very short time, we have learned a lot about what goes on behind the scenes in the movie and television business and how badly women are treated.

 

Kitty Green, the director and screenwriter of “The Assistant” shows us that having Garner give a monotone performance with many shots just on her face thinking. They both show us quickly how low on the ladder a woman is and how she is treated or ignored by all including other women and men who have the same position she has. What is to come is shown in the early scenes as Garner cleans her boss’s couch and finds an earring.

 

The film is 81 minutes filled with a lot of unnecessary and repetitious scenes which if eliminated would have made a stronger film or allowed more time for 2 scenes, with one being passed over far too quickly, which are important to the movement.

 

Though I can’t/won’t/don’t recommend “The Assistant” I am a hopeful person and I hope the next 9 movies I see should only be seen for the first time in a theatre on the large movie screen!

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  Welcome to my world & Friends

Along the canal

Seymour the squirrel

 

Manny the Manatee

Iggy the iguana

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Looking out my window at the canal I saw this big shadow on the water so I grabbed my camera and went downstairs and there is –one of the many Manatees that inhabit the stretch of water from Karen Bay (AKA The Point) to the bridge right outside our complex that goes into Sunset Key with their million-dollar homes!

 

The Manatees come in our winter for the warm waters to enlarge their families and sometimes you will see a group of them with their calves but I usually only see one as a sort of look out for the rest–or I like to think so!

 

If you want to read more about them–I didn’t know they were related to elephants!–just go here   https://tinyurl.com/tvrmggy

 

Our weather person–Bette Davis–gave a good report for this week and now I am waiting for her report for February 29!

 

 

 

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It is the middle of February and we are in the 80s with loads of sun and most of the day not a cloud in the sky! We have broken record highs and yet people are still denying that the world is heating up and say ‘that always happens’–sorry folks, it doesn’t always happen. Look at what is going on in the world with storms bigger than ever, fires raging out of control, ice cliffs melting—don’t let people tell you the climate isn’t changing!

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I have been sitting here for an hour trying hard to find something positive to say about this movie and the best I can come up with is, “It isn’t a bad movie!”

 

This movie runs 85 minutes and if all the useless ‘fill’ was edited out it just might have made an hour TV show in the 1960s except now the quite not out of the closet gay 19-year-old uses a phone app to hook up with other guys.

 

Jose has a needy, religious mother and when he finally falls in love he has to choose between her and the man he loves.

 

Does the fact that he is poor and lives in Guatemala make this an ‘interesting and different’ movie? No!

 

What and how does his mother make a living? How does Jose make a living? He stands out in the middle of the street waving his hands, seemingly directing traffic. Why does Li Cheng, the director, and screenwriter with George F. Roberson, bring in a scene with Jose’s grandmother except to allow a few more scenic shots? How does Jose, so poor, have the money to spend on ‘rent by the hour’ hotel rooms to take the guys he meets over the phone app?

 

Why do Cheng and Roberson waste time with unnecessary cinematography and storylines that go nowhere? Why not tell us about the mother, the grandmother and, certainly more about Jose and Luis, the man he falls in love with?

 

Yes, there is nudity and showing men having sex and about as interesting as showing heterosexual couples having sex in their movies! Oh yes, no full-frontal nudity and only one quick sideways shot!

 

It is not all bad and/boring as there is a 10-15 minute scene of Jose (Enrique Salanic) and Luis (Manolo Herrera) riding on a motorcycle along the countryside that is as romantic, joyful and Valentine Day’s worthy as you could have seen in and 1960s movie.

 

 

 

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The first 4 pictures are of my pepper plant on the kitchen window sill where 2 peppers are growing while the one on the living room window sill which I started with the seeds from the older plant is growing nicely.

 

5, 6 & 7 are just some of my geraniums that are continuously blooming.

 

8 is one of the residents enjoying a ride on Karen Bay.

 

9 are a couple of boxes I picked up at the Dollar Tree last Thursday and plan on planting them during the week and hopefully they will grow and bloom successfully!

 

10 is my “Christmas Cactus” blooming in February for Valentine’s Day and also for my birthday!

 

11 is a new frozen food I tried–not bad.

 

12 is the first car I ever had–in Memphis, a Caddie–while the other is so far my last car. It was a 1973 Chevrolet Caprice that I bought in 1981 and had for 23 years until I just couldn’t afford to fix it anymore along with the gas prices starting to rise in 2004. The month was February, the year a Leap Year and I sold the car, moved into this apartment and celebrated my 17th Leap Year Birthday with a brunch party at the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Hotel and Marina on the 17th street causeway!

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BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE ASKED–REALLY–MY NEED WISH GIFT LIST

Well, they have been hounding me (okay asked me once or twice) what I need/wish for as a gift on my birthday. Doing this mostly against my will (HUSH! Don’t say a word!) I am offering 3 categories of gifts. Let’s be clear NO ONE HAS TO GET/SEND ME A GIFT!! (Of course, if you have bad luck for 7 years after Saturday, February 29, 2020, don’t look at me!) By the same token, how many Leap Year Babies do you know? Remember us poor Leap Year birthday people are ignored for 3 out of every 4 years–not that I want you to feel guilty.

Now that I am old–hey, 21 is OLD!–I want only things I can use in my everyday life and don’t need ‘clutter’. (Yes, eating out doesn’t fit in that category of clutter by my definition!)

Okay, here we go!

Category 1

Not sensible but not impossible gifts

A convertible car–preferably a Chevy or Caddie from the 1970s BUT any kind will do–including a year of automobile insurance. (Well you wouldn’t want me to drive around without insurance, would you?)

A round month-long trip to Australia and New Zealand with a rental car available in New Zealand so I could drive from the north island to the south island stopping where and when I want. I’ll give you more details when you want to book the trip.

 A round trip ticket to New York–plan(s) to follow when you start booking the 3-4 day trip.

Category 2

Sensible and possible (In no particular preference)

A point and shoot digital camera              Top of the line electric razor

Category 3

Practical, Possible and Sensible (In no particular preference)

Gift cards (So I can buy what I need– not what I want!) for:

Target  Office Depot  Home Depot Winn-Dixie  The Dollar Tree

The Gateway Movie Theatre  Regal Theatre AMC Theatre

Quarterdeck Restaurant   Cabo Blanco Restaurant Cafe Vico

Outback Steak House  Big Louie’s Restaurant   Subways Restaurant

Uber  Lyft

for locals: letting me borrow your car Monday and/or Tuesday and/or Wednesdays.

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5 PM February 6, 2020  Yes, winter is rough!

Starting off the New Year with NOT going to a movie on a Friday! Nothing worth seeing with only one new movie opening and money is a problem–hey, I have a big birthday coming up–and can’t afford transportation– so instead I will stay home and watch a movie on netflix!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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RSVPs

Whether you get an evite or a formal printed invitation, it’s considerate to tell the host as soon as you can whether you’re coming.

No maybes. “I think the hardest thing for any host is a question mark on a guest list,” Senning says. “I’m not a big fan of the ‘maybe.’”

Hosts should ping nonresponders. “If you’re hosting the party and haven’t heard back from people, it’s OK to do a follow-up and ask — without being accusatory — if they’re coming.”

Etiquette Rules: Gift Giving, Thank-you Notes