"100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared" (movie critique)

100 YEAR OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT 
THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED
movie poster

As a fun time to spent together, The Travelling Toe treats a dear friend to lunch and a movie in celebration of another birthday.  As both of us enjoy unusual movies, The Travelling Toe and friend traveled to the Angelika movie theater in Dallas to see "100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappears".

Robert Gustafsson
plays
Allan Karlson

The Travelling Toe is having a very difficult time describing this Swedish movie.  By the name of the movie title, you can guess it centers on a 100 year old man.  It is about Allan Karlson (Robert Gustafsson) who is living in a retirement community.  On the day of his 100th birthday, Allan decides to slowly climb out the window of his room and makes a break for more adventures.  He walks to the local bus depot  and with just the few coins in his picket, he buys a bus ticket to a small local town.  While waiting for the bus, a young biker thug comes into the depot to use the facilitates. He and his bag don't fit in the small space so he sees Alan standing here and hands his bag to the old man and tells him not to let go of it.   So course, when Allan's bus arrives and is ready to take off,  Allan takes the suitcase with him.  And the crazy adventures begin.

The movie is narrated in English, with some of  the actors speaking in Swedish, English, Spanish, Russian and French with subtitles.

Allan has had a long an interesting life.  As a young lad, Allan learned how to blow up things and loved it.  His first job was working in a Swedish munitions factory.  From there he goes to Spain and blows up things for the revolutionists but inadvertently saves Franco's life. Then during Word War II, he ends up where the biggest bomb is being built , out in New Mexico.  There Allan fixes Robert Oppenheimer's design flaw. He also meets Harry Truman and they enjoy several, several drinks together.

After the war he is kidnapped by the Russians to work on their bomb program.   But Allan makes the mistake of angering Stalin by comparing him to Franco.  So Allan is sent to Siberia to work in a gulag.  There he meets Albert Einstein's brother Henry, who did not inherit any of Albert's smarts....in fact Henry is rather dim-witted.  Through their own dumb luck, somehow they manage to blow up the gulag and make their escape to Paris.  Eventually, Allan is recruited by the CIA to be a double agent between the US and Russia.  But each side knows he is a double agent and they just feed each other worthless information through Allan.  He finally grows old, retires and ends up in the retirement community.

Now that is just part of the story. The rest centers on Allan and his friend finding out that the bag he has is full of money and the thugs are pursuing them.

The Travelling Toe can not even begin to describe all the other adventures these 2 guys have along the way especially the part the elephant plays in it.

So go see this movie at your own risk.  But if you like funny, weird, eccentric, quirky movies then it could be for you.
  
The Travelling Toe and birthday friend must admit that we did share a lot of laughter watching Allan in all his adventures and all the characters he meet along the way.  .

Jonas Jonasson

This Swedish movie was wildly popular in Europe and possibly there will be a US film made of it but how will it translate to the US market is hard to predicate.  It is based on a book of the same name by Jonas Jonasson that was published in 2009.

The Travelling Toe gives this fun movie 1 big toe up and I middle toe up with a side of Swedish meatballs!

"Artistic Director's Choice" program presented by Texas Ballet Theater

TEXAS BALLET THEATER
program

The Travelling Toe and a dear friend attended the last performance of the 2014-2015 season of the Texas Ballet Theater at Bass Hall.

Bass Hall

This program was titled "Artistic Director's Choice" and consisted of 3 separate ballets.  

Jiri Kylian 

The first ballet presented was "Petite Mort" choreographed by Jiri Kylian.  On stage were six men and six women.  The men started the ballet by brandishing foils.  It was quite interesting to see how they could dance and in a sense juggle the foils.  The ballet is set to 2 Mozart piano concertos.  The first was Piano Concerto A major and the second was Piano Concert C major - which you might recognize from a Swedish film called "Elvira Madigan".  The movie may be in the distant past but the music plays on.

Mozart

After a 20 minute intermission, the dancers returned to the stage for the world premier of "Crash".   This ballet was choreographed by Jonathan Watkins who had been in residence in Fort Worth for a month in order to ensure the dancers had the movements correct to achieve his vision.   It was danced to an original score by Ryan Cockerham.  "Crash" could represent a break-up, technology crash or any other type of critical mass.   The dancers were all in nude costumes so all movement could be seen as the dancers break apart and then come back together.

Jonathan Watkins

Ryan Cockerham

After another short intermission,the last ballet of the program was "Rubies" by George Balanchine.  "Rubies" is one part of Balanchine's ballet "Jewels" along with Emeralds and Diamonds.   It is set to music by Igor Stravinsky.  As the curtain rose the dancers were on stage, with the ladies up on pointe and the men holding their hands to steady them.  The bright red costumes and jewels, caused the audience to response with warm applause at the beautiful site center stage.   Then the dance began.  If you have ever seen a Balanchine ballet, then you know how he often repeats patterned moves.   The dancers were all up to the task of this demanding piece of work.  It was a lovely and exciting end to a diverse program.

George Balanchine

Igor Stravinsky

The Travelling Toe must admit that she tends to favor story line ballets but this program was well received.   The only thing that could have made it better would have been live music.  Hopefully that wish will come true for the 2015-2016 season.

Texas Ballet Theater

Container Gardens with the Westmont Garden Club

The monthly meeting of the Westmont Garden Club was on planting container gardens.   The presenter was Master Gardener, Linda Winn.  Even though The Travelling Toe more often than not is a death threat to plants, found this topic to be quite interesting.

Linda began the presentation with a discussion on the reasons to use container gardens. Some mentioned were:
                             
                                        limited space
                                        limited time
                                        so many pots, so many places inside and outside
                                        inside plants are healthy for us
                                        easier to take care of than a larger space

Then the discussion was on the types of containers to use for the mini-garden, such as:
               
                                      clay pots (the old stand-by)
                                      ceramic pots
                                      half barrels - wood and plastic
                                      stone urns
                                      vintage tin cans, coffee pots any other interesting pot

The main issue is to ensure that any pot has a drainage hole in the bottom.  Additionally the use of rocks in the bottom can prevent dirt from leaking out of the pot.  Linda shared with the group that she used a coffee filter in the bottom of the pots she used for plants.  One member mentioned she had success in using a baby diaper in the bottom of a pot and it was great at absorbing water....who knew that baby diapers worked on several different types of bottoms successfully!

potting soil and container

Next was on how to select plants for the container garden.  Most any plant can be grown in a container not just show plants but trees and even vegetables.  When deciding on the plants, be sure to look at the plant tag as it contains all the information needed to ensure you have the right plants for your area - such as light and space.

These are some of the things you will find on the plant tag:

                                     sun - how much is required daily, whether full, partial or no direct sun
                                     space - how much room a plant needs to grow
                                     height - how tall a plant will grow
                                     bloom time - how long it will bloom
                                     watering needs - whether is needs to be semi-moist, damp at all times,
                                           dry between watering, moist - should always feel wet

Linda then showed the group had to put a container garden together.   She said to follow 3 rules:

                                      thriller
                                             something to draw your eye and it should be planted in the middle

thriller

                                     filler
                                            these plants go around the middle plant to fill in

fillers - white and pink

                                     spiller
                                            these plants spill over the pot 
                                            example - potato vine

spiller

Use potting soil not garden soil for the plants.  One can use per-lite in the soil as it absorbs the water then releases it later on.  Linda suggested to place the plants in the pot first so you know how you want to set them as you began to plant.  

As Linda shared with the group, gardening was the original job, that was what Eve and Adam were suppose to do!

Linda Winn
with completed container garden

One book on  container gardening is:

                                                The Book of Container Gardening
                                                                     by
                                                           Malcolm Hiller    

Side note:   some books of Mr. Hiller are available through Amazon.
 Amazon


Also on display was a magazine "Garden Gate" that had several pages of plants that were ideal for container gardens.

                                       
Garden Gate Magazine

Christian Arts Museum in Fort Worth, Texas

CHRISTIAN ARTS MUSEUM OF
FORT WORTH

The Bedford Parc Lunch Ladies and The Travelling Toe journeyed to the West Side of Fort Worth to visit the Christian Arts Museum.  This is a small white unassuming building off the busy intersection of Camp Bowie and 7th Street.  But this little museum has lots to hold one's attention.

WALL OF CHRISTIAN CROSSES

As you walk in, to your right is a "Wall of Christian Crosses".   They were all made by Rachel Joy Colvin, a Fort Worth artist, sculptor and calligrapher.  There are 28 crosses in all. A leaflet is provided which identities each type of cross on the wall - most are familiar  but a few  maybe not.  

WALL OF CHRISTIAN CROSSES
leaflet

In the next area are several interesting items including a needlepoint rendition of the Lord's Supper and another oil painting of the same subject but the clothing reflects a different time period.  In the center of the room is a replica of the Arc of the Covenant.  If it looks strangely familiar it is because you may have seen it before.  According to the docent, this replica was made out the same mold that was used to make the Arc of Covenant for the movie "Raiders of the Lost Arc" .

LORD'S SUPPER
needlepoint

LORD'S SUPPER
oil painting

ARC OF THE COVENANT

The next room is very inspiring as it contains a life size wax figure of Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting, "The Last Supper".   There are over 40,00 strands of hair used for the heads and beards.   The clothing that the figures have on are the original period costumes from the 1950's and have to be sent to a special cleaners to be cleaned.  As you sit and contemplate this tableau, an audio is played describing the story of the wax figures and each of the disciples at the table..

JESUS

LORD'S SUPPER
wax figures

LORD'S SUPPER
wax figures

LEONARDO DA VINCI

DA VINCI'S
THE LAST SUPPER

The display was created in the 1950's by Katherine Stubergh and her daughter.  The work was commissioned by a Fort Worth family, the Fleming's, and was placed on display in 1956 in the Ridglea Shopping Center.  The display was moved several times and was in storage for a period of several years.   Then through the Walsh Foundation, a new building was funded so that the wax figures would be back on display in a permanent location for the public to enjoy.

ARTICLE
wax figures

The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday:

                                         10:00 am - 3:00 pm

                                         3221 Hamilton Ave

                                         817-332-7878

Christian Arts Museum

There is no admission charge to visit this lovely museum and with advance notice large groups are welcome.

Here is another Fort Worth treasure that not many know about.   Go and marvel at the artistry and beauty of these wax figures.

"Aloha" (movie critique)

ALOHA
movies poster

CAST LIST

• Bradley Cooper as Brian Gilcrest
• Emma Stone as Captain Allison Ng
• Rachel McAdams as Tracy Woodside
• Bill Murray as Carson Welch
• John Krasinski as John "Woody" Woodside
• Danny McBride as Colonel "Fingers" Lacy
• Alec Baldwin as General Dixon

The Travelling Toe and 2 friends went to the Monday matinee showing of the new movie "Aloha', starring Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone.

Bradley Cooper

Emma Stone

In the Hawaiian language Aloha means hello and good-by but in this movie Aloha just about means boring..

Bradley Cooper stars as Brain Gilcrest a washed out Air Force pilot  and now a military contractor.  He was badly hurt on his last mission to Kabul.  After his recovery he heads to Hickman Air Force Base in Hawaii.  He is working for a billionaire entrepreneur, Carson Welch, played by Bill Murray, who has plans to launch a supposed communications rocket from the Hawaiian Islands.

Bill Murray

Serving as Brian's liaison is Capt. Allison Ng, played by Emma Stone. Side note: she is blonde, blue eyed, fair skinned but is part Hawaiian?  Guess the Swedish genes she also has were the dominate ones.

Along the way, Gilcrest meets up with his former girlfriend Tracy (Rachel McAdams) who is now married to an Air Force pilot John (John Krasinski) and has 2 children - a young son and an teenage daughter. Brain and Tracy have unfinished business and anyone can pretty much figure out what it is.

Rachel McAdams

John Krasinski

Allison and Brian share some happy moments together till she finds out that heroes sometimes have feet of clay.  So will Brian find the right stuff to do the right thing? You dear reader will have to find out for yourself....would suggest that you rent a cheap DVD to do so.

The Travelling Toe will not share all the ending details of the movie but the director (Cameron Crowe) does a nice job of bringing all the stories to a conclusion.  There are some beautiful shots of Hawaii in the movie as well as several lovely Hawaiian songs that  are included.

Cameron Crowe

The Travelling Toe awards this movie 1 pinky toe half way up with a plumeria flower lei.

 

plumeria 

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

"Tomorrowland" (movie critique)

TOMORROWLAND
movie poster

In a popular play about several little girls in an orphanage, there is a song about tomorrow - that it is only a day away - well, in the new Disney Studios film "Tomorrowland" is as close as your local movie theater.  The Friday Movie Mavens and The Travelling Toe drove to the mall multiplex and entered the world of Tomorrowland.

A young boy, Frank Walker, played by Thomas Robinson, travels by himself to the 1964 World's Fair taking place in New York.   He has invented a jet pack out of vacuum cleaners, which doesn't quite work.  Frank wants to enter his creation into the new invention contest but the head honcho David Nix (Hugh Laurie) tells him his creation is not good enough and to leave. But a strange young girl, Athena (Raffey Cassidy) gives Frank a souvenir fair pin with a "T"on the front of it.  When Frank picks it up he is transported to a new world where rocket ships take off, tall skyscrapers are built, hydro propelled commuter trains run on schedule and the people all look happy and are productive.  But Frank is expelled from "Tomorrowland and the reason why is not learned until later in the movie, 

Thomas Robinson
young Frank

Raffey Cassidy
Athena

Hugh Laurie
Nix

Fast forward to the present and a bright, young girl, Casey (Britt Robertson) lives in Florida with her father and younger brother.  Her father, who is played by Tim McGraw, is soon to be an unemployed NASA engineer.  Casey goes out at night and sabotages the efforts being made to dismantle Cape Canaveral.  But she is caught in one of her escapades and is arrested.   When she is bailed out of jail (and not by her father) and goes to collect her belongings, there is that world's fair pin with a "T" on the front.   When she picks it up she is transported to Tomorrowland.   Then she drops it and comes back to current time.  As she is leaving the police station, Athena shows up and tells her they have to find Frank.  They begin a journey up the east coast to find him.

Britt Robertson
Casey

Pierce Gagnon
younger brother

Tim McGraw
father

So Casey and Athena take off to track down Frank (George Clooney).  By now he has become a disgruntled, unhappy, paranoid recluse.   He reluctantly lets Casey in the then begins to tell her his story.  Out of nowhere robot assassins, sent by Nix, arrive to take them both out of the picture.  Frank and Casey evade them and with Athena make a run to Paris to find a space ship that is actually ensconced in the Eiffel Tower that will take them to Tomorrowland.  

Frank Walker

As the movie moves along, we learn why Frank was expelled from Tomorrowland.

Dear Readers, since this is a Disney film then we know all ends well but you will just have to see it for yourself to find out all the details of the alternate universe of Tomorrowland.

There is a subtle message in the movie that we make our own futures and our destiny is up to each of us.

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 1 big toe up and 1 middle toe up with Mickey Mouse ears.

Side Note:

There really is a Tomorrowland in the Disneyland complex in California.  It has been refurbished several times but still is part of the Disney experience.


Tomorrowland  Disneyland Park

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

"The Liar" presented by Theater 3 - Dallas

THE LIAR
at
Theater 3 - Dallas

Theater 3- Dallas

On a Sunday afternoon, The Travelling Toe with 5 other friends attended the matinee performance of "The Liar" at Theater 3 in Dallas.

David Ives adapted this current rendition of a French play by Pierre Corneille that was first performed in 1644.  One thing that makes the play so much fun is that all the dialogue is delivered in rhymed iambic pentameter. Which just means what they speak all their line in rhymes and sometimes it is a stretch to make it rhyme which leads to lots of laughs. 

DAVID IVES

The play centers on Doronte, who upon his arrival in Paris meets Cliton, who is there seeking employment.   So Doronte hires Cliton to become his valet.   But here is the big issue with these two which becomes important in  their relationship - Doronte can not tell the truth, spinning one lie after another, while Cliton always tells the truth.  So right away these 2 men are bound to be heading for trouble.  

Arriving on scene are 2 beautiful women, Lucrece and Clarice and their maid Isabelle.  In his eagerness to meet the fair ladies, Doronte gets the ladies and their names confused.  He begins to court the woman he thinks is Lucrece but instead it is Clarice.   Well, Clarice already has a fiance, Alcippe who, when he finds out about Doronte, challenges him to a duel.  The duel is so funny with a play by play announcer describing the action as they duel - well sort.  

Cliton becomes enamored with the maid Isabelle and she returns his affection but she has a twin sister, Sabine, who  does not like him at all.   So one time he is meet with kisses and the next time with slaps depending on which twin is there.  

Throw in Doronte's father, Geronte, who insists that Doronte get married or be disinherited.

As Doronte spins one lie after another, he is finally caught in his own web of deceit.

In the end, the trusted valet saves the day.   Additionally as all is made right, a long held secret is revealed.  But The Travelling Toe will not share this secret or the ending as you will just have to see the play yourself.

This fun play was directed by B.J. Cleveland, who is well known within the local community theater circle.  He did an amazing job on setting the action, re-action and interaction of the characters and kept the play from lagging not even one bit.

The costumes by Bruce Richard Coleman were full of lace, frills and lots of color.   They just added the right note to each character.

All the actors were really good in their parts and it is amazing how they could memorize and deliver all the dialogue each character had.

Wonderful production and full of fun.  The Travelling Toe would encourage you to enjoy this French farce for the modern age.   As mother always said, tell the truth as your lies will catch up with you.  

Cast

Zak Reynolds                                                   Doronte

  

Michael Kreitzinger                                         Cliton

Liz Millea                                                          Lucrece

Jenna Anderson                                              Clarice

Suzanna Catherine Fox                                  Isabelle/Sabine

Dustin Curry                                                     Alcippe

Bradley Campbell                                           Geronte

David Goodwin                                               Philiste

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