"The Transporter Refueled" (movie critique)

THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED
movie poster

The Travelling Toe and a friend went to the local Movie Tavern to see "The Transporter Refueled".  We do like our action flicks.

This is the 4th movie in the series.  The first three stared Jason Statham (sigh).  There is a new TV series on TNT also based on this character with Chris Vance playing the tittle role.  Ed Skrein plays Frank Martin in this new movie. Oh, he always wears a black suit, a white shirt and a black tie as his work ensemble..

Jason Statham
first Frank

Chris Vance
TV Frank

Ed Skrein
current Frank

The short overview is that Frank Martin, an extra military special ops soldier, is a driver taking a "package" from point A to point B or sometimes C - Z.  The package can be anything that needs special handling, including people.  As in this movie, Frank is hired to pick up 3 women all dressed alike and leaving a bank with the police hot on their trail.  Frank finally delivers them to their safe house which is an abandoned warehouse. There Frank finds his father, Frank Sr, played by the handsome, mature actor, Ray Stevenson, drugged and tied up. Another one of the "girls" had kidnapped him to ensure that Frank would complete the job. 

Ray Stevenson
papa Frank

Frank only drives spiffy souped-up Audi sedans that even feature rolling license plates in order to hide from the Police.  The "girls" are ex-prostitutes and are after their former boss, a Russian thug, Arkady, played by Anatole Taubman.  And they do get their revenge but at a high price.

Lane Chabanol
Anna

Anatole Taubman
Arkady
(really bad guy)

Well Dear Readers, needless to say there is lots of car chases, double crossing, fight scenes and even a great boat chase that keeps the action moving along.  Also, this movie had to have been shot in the south of France as the scenery, whizzing by at warp speed, was lovely.

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 1 big toe up with a dramamine pill for car sickness!

Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only!

Granbury Doll House Museum in Granbury, Texas

GRANBURY DOLL HOUSE MUSEUM

The Travelling Toe joined other ladies who enjoy wearing purple clothing with bright red head gear, travelled to the beautiful city of Granbury, Texas.  The purpose of the trip was fun, food and fellowship.  

To begin the fun part, we toured the Granbury Doll House Museum. The dolls are displayed in a lovely restored house built in 1904 that is owned by the City of Granbury.

Our tour guide for the day was Barbara Gray-Williams who welcomed us wearing a lovely red hat.  

our hostess Barbara with a very special doll

The information below is from their web site that tells a little about the museum and how it came to be:

Barbara Gray-Williams, her sister Jane Sharp and Kathy White are no longer children; however, they still play with dolls.  

Today, you can enjoy their hobby, turned passion, at the Granbury Doll House Museum.  The plethora of dolls brings excellent use to the Nutt family's historic home at 421 E Bridge Street in Granbury, Texas.

The house, donated to the city had sat vacant for sometime, waiting to find its purpose.  In 2012, the Granbury Doll House Museum was established and the house's purpose had been fulfilled.  With over 1,000 dolls to view and more collections planned, the museum offers a glimpse of history through dolls.

Granbury Doll House Museum

Barbara told us that the three sisters started out with 600 dolls and now the collection has over 2,000 dolls on display and in storage.  And they still accept dolls to add to the collection.  They also have a doll "hospital" and can repair dolls.  

Here are some of the famous "people" that we saw at the museum:

Ken and Barbie
Star Trek
is that Mr. Spock in the background?

Elvis was in the building

Lucy stopped by

Campbell Soup Kids

Bunnies galore

There are dolls of every shape, size and theme.  If you love dolls are know someone who does, then this is worth the short drive to Granbury.  There is not admission fee but donations are accepted.

Our group had a fun time and saw many dolls from our childhood that we wish we still had.  Barbara and her sisters have put together a charming display that is fun to visit. You have to walk through the house several times to take it all in.

3 story doll house
has electric lights

1935 Shirley Temple doll
with box  - price of $1.29

This sign says it all

"Learning to Drive" (movie critique)

LEARNING TO DRIVE
movie poster

The Travelling Toe and a friend ventured outside the normal comfort zone of the neighborhood multiplex to a different one just to be able to see  "Learning to Drive".  

The movie stars Patricia Clarkson who is Wendy, a very  successful book editor and author in NYC.  The movie opens with Wendy and her husband Ted (Jake Weber) having a heated argument as they enter the taxicab driven by Darwin (Ben Kingsley).  Ted is telling Wendy he is breaking up with her and wants a divorce.  Wendy thinks Ted is just going through another phase and that they have been together too long for them to split up now.   But Ted tells Wendy he is serious and he is in love with someone else.  Wendy starts crying and yelling and Ted finally jumps out of the cab leaving a distraught Wendy alone in the cab with a befuddled Darwin. He drives Wendy to her home and he gives her a card with his name and number on it in case she needs a cab. But Darwin is not just a cab driver, he also is a driving instructor.

Wendy decides she has to learn to drive so she can go see her daughter Tasha (Grace Gummer) who lives in Vermont.  Wendy, being a typical New Yorker, never learned how to drive a car as she had public transportation to get her where she wanted to go.  If a car was required then Ted was the designated driver.  But now Wendy must find her way to becoming more self-sufficient and if she wants to see Tasha she has to learn how to drive.  She comes across Darwin's card and arranges for him to begin giving her driving lessons.  Darwin is extremely patient with her and encourages her to achieve her dream of passing the driving test and even purchasing a new car.

Through this chaotic challenge for them both, they begin to share their stories.  Darwin, who is from India, is a political refuge.  He had been in jail for many years and his family all killed except for a sister.  The reason for his incarceration is that he was a Sikh in a Hindu country and there is deep conflict between the two groups .  During one day's lesson, Darwin asks Wendy for help in choosing a gift for a woman his sister in India has chosen for him - as in an arranged marriage. He is rather apprehensive about the situation and not sure how much they have in common.  But Jasleem (Sarita Choudhury) finally comes to New York and she and Darwin are married.

As the driving instructions continue on, Darwin and Wendy share many stories, secrets and out of it comes a deep friendship and better understanding of each other's lives.  Also Jasleem, at first shy and withdrawn, begins to make friends in the neighborhood and changes as well. 

This movie was fun to see and we both enjoyed it so much.  We feel sure that this movie will not be a big ratings winner in the movie box office stats.  However if you choose to see "Learning to Drive" you will be glad you did - well hopefully so.

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 1 big toe up with it's own seatbelt if Wendy is driving.

The cast:

Ben Kingsley
Darwin

Patricia Clarkson
Wendy

Jake Weber
Ted

Grace Gummer
Tasha

Sarita Choudhury
Jasleem

Disclaimer: The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.

"A Walk in the Woods" (movie critique)

A Walk In The Woods
movie poster

Along with the Friday Movie Mavens, The Travelling Toe saw the new flick stating Robert Redford and Nick Nolte, " A Walk in the Woods".  The movie is based on a book of the same name written by Bill Bryson.

Bill Bryson

A Walk in the Woods
book cover

Bill Bryson

The story begins with author Bill Bryson (Robert Redford) who is doing an interview for a TV show and realizes that it has been a while since he has written a book .  He currently has no immediate plans or thoughts about writing a new book.

After attending a friend's funeral with his wife, played by Emma Thompson, he decides he does need to do something with his life to get back on track.  He sees a sign for the Appalachian Trail and decides that is what he needs to do - hike the trail and write about it.  He starts calling around to all his friends to find a partner and no one wants to go.  Age and health issues are predominantly the reasons given for not going.  When he is about to give up, he receives a call from a forgotten friend, Stephen Katz (called Katz) who is played by a wheezing Nick Nolte. Katz insists he can go on the hike just like the old days when the two guys were younger.  And he is now sober.

So the adventure begins. Bryson and Katz are driven to the trailhead and start off on the long hike.  It is not an easy trail and the younger kids keep passing them but they keep trying to trudge along.  They meet one very interesting character played by Kristen Schaal who has a verbal dialogue going about anything and everything.  They eventually have to devise a plan to escape her and they finally do.

At one point during the hike, they make it to a town just off the trail and spent a couple of nights at a motel run by Mary Steenburgen.  She definitely has her eye on Bill but he stays true to his wife, even though it is a tad difficult to do. Oh, and Katz has a romantic interlude with a local lady but the husband finds out about it and is not a happy camper.  The guys leave the motel but this time out the back window to avoid the hubby!

At one point in the hike, they are on the side of a mountain trail and Bill slips and falls, bringing Katz down with him.  They wind up on a ledge and just have to stay there overnight till some young hikers find them the next day and help them back up to the trail.  It begins raining and when they finally find some cover, they see they have been hiking for several months through, rain, snow and bears, and have only gotten a third of the way through the trail.  They make a mutual decision that this is their stopping place. They hitch a ride from a Forest Ranger who gets them to the next town.

Back home in New Hampshire, Bill is going through his mail and in it he finds postcards that Katz has mailed to him along the trail.  The last one shows the Iowa State Fair grounds and Katz wrote on the card, "I wonder what's next'.

The cast:

Robert Redford
Bill

Nick Nolte
Katz

Mary Steenburgen

Emma Thompson

Kristen Schaal

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 1 big toe up with an open blister and 1 middle toe up with 3 bandaids.  We all enjoyed it and had many laughs during the movie.  There is one burning question that inquiring minds want to know - did Nolte use a bare bottom double or was that his true self?  

Appalachian Trail

Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.

"The Gift" (movie critique)

A friend and The Travelling Toe met at the local multiplex to see an early evening showing of "The Gift".

The movie stars Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall as husband and wife Simon and Robyn. As the story begins, Simon and Robyn are looking for a house in the Hollywood Hills area having just relocated from Chicago.  Simon is starting a new job with lots of future opportunities. Robyn is an interior designer who plans to work from home for her company in Chicago. They are also hoping to start a family, having previously lost a baby while living in Chicago.

After finding the perfect house they begin to furnishing it.  While out purchasing items for the house, Simon runs into an old "friend", Gordon (Gordo) Mosley, played Joel Edgerton.  They attended high school together and have some sort of past history.  After some small talk and a fast retreat, Simon tells Robyn he does not remember Gordon.  But Gordon has not forgotten Simon at all, as we shall find out later in the movie.

Gordon leaves a bottle of wine to welcome the couple to the neighborhood.  Soon, he starts dropping by unannounced, usually when Simon is at work and Robyn is alone.  Simon becomes increasingly upset that "Gordo the Weirdo", as he was know in school, shows up unexpected and uninvited to their home and into their lives.  

As the story continues we learn that Simon is not the nice guy seems to be.  There are some unresolved issues between Gordon and Simon from high school days.  As Gordon says to Simon, "You may be done with the past, but the past isn't done with you" and Simon must pay for his sins.  And as for the "The Gift" sometimes it takes 9 months for a gift to arrive.  Think about it!

Side Note:  Joel Edgerton not only stared in this movie but he also wrote and directed it.

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 2 middle toes up with big red bows.



The cast:

Jason Bateman
Simon

Rebecca Hall
Robyn

Joel Edgerton
Gordon aka Gordo

Disclaimer:   The Travelling Toe is not a profession critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.

Book Review of "Tinseltown" by William J. Mann

TINSELTOWN

                                 



The Travelling Toe is a member of the The Book Mark Review Club and the September meeting featured Rosemary Rumbley - who is a delightful book reviewer and storyteller.

Rosemary Rumbley

Rosemary Rumbley


For her selection, Rosemary chose William J. Mann's "Tinseltown" on murder, morphine and mayhem and the beginnings of the moving pictures.  

William J Mann

William J Mann

Side Note:  Mr.Mann's book can be found on Amazon.

Amazon

One of the fun tidbits that Rosemary shared was that when the movies first began in the early 1900's, they were known as moving pictures.  But in the 1920's vocabulary changed by adding" IES" to the end of words, such as bobbie pins, panties, Wheaties and the movies.  

Rosemary told the story about Eadweard Muybridge who was the photographer of the famous pictures of Leland Stanford's race horses showing the horses hooves all up in the air at the same time.  Eadweard took the pictures and mounted them on cardboard and then flipped them showing the horses in motion.  Well, Thomas Edison hear about it and had Muybridge come to New Jersey and show him how he did the process.  Muybridge did and then Edison stole his idea since there was no patent on it.  Then next, celluloid was invented and Edison started created moving pictures. The first one he made, which is at the Smithsonian, is titled "Mr. Ott's Sneeze'.   Rosemary acted it out for us and it was so funny. The first true moving picture story was filmed in New Jersey and called "The Great Train Robbery".  And with that effort moving pictures took off - of course silent at that time.

Eadweard Muybridge

Thomas Edison

Rosemary shared a lot of other fun stories from the book.  So Dear Readers The Travelling Toe will leave the narrative at this point to allow you to find out for yourself what part murder, mayhem and morphine played in the early beginnings of the movie industry.

Hooray for Hollywood