Change Your Image
misterybee
Reviews
Live to Lead (2022)
The Haters gonna hate
I'm surprised by how the propaganda from "the firm" (the Royal family) against Harry and Meghan that made its way into various publications over the years has evidently infiltrated the minds of some who post here. Harry and Meghan have an interesting story to tell and I have no reason to not believe their experiences or their understandings of what was going on to control, undermine and punish them. I appreciate their determination to do good in the world and their journey into WOKENESS together. If the Haters can't move past their names and brief appearances to introduce the interviews then the Haters have a problem, but the problem is not Harry or Meghan. The problem is who looks back at them when they stand alone and stare into a mirror.
This docuseries is a good introduction into the lives of some inspiring people we should be more familiar with: Bryan Stevenson, Greta Thunberg, Ruth Beta Ginsberg and Gloria Steinem, for example. We are taken along on their journey into becoming who they became and we are treated with their self-assessments of who they became. Their summations of themselves. Their philosophical realizations. Their humanity. Ruth's deep and abiding love for Marty was particularly touching. I fell in love with Marty too. We learn some of the things they learned as they followed an inner calling that was much louder in them than in most. My complaint is, for me, the bad use of music sometimes that distracted more than enhanced. Annoyed more than complimented.
Being Rose (2017)
Less is more.
I just watched this movie and was blown away. There was such a touching reality to Cybil's performance. She had recently lost her beloved husband. Her adult son was a drug addict, lived elsewhere and had cutoff all ties with her because of a resentment he had with her concerning his father. She was ill, could barely walk and needed a wheel chair. She was waiting for her medical diagnosis, which she knew most likely would not be good. In the meantime life needed to be proceeded with and what became most important to her was to try to reconnect with her son. She was in a state of complete emotional overload and when too many intense emotions are all jammed up together, each fighting for precedence over the other, we can short circuit, shut down, become numb. She was a retired cop of over 30 years so had been trained and had learned to proceed into and through precarious situations mentally evaluating and assessing each step along the way. Her job had required her being non-emotional. So that was the default look on her face now: a cop proceeding into and through a precarious situation. She had overwhelming concerns on her mind that stayed with her each moment, no matter who she might be talking to or what she might be experiencing. Her resting face look allowed for the slightest smile, the slightest eye or facial movement, the most nuanced expression to SHOUT OUT what she was feeling or thinking. I think of Peggy Lee who, when young and just starting out, was singing in a nightclub full of famous people who were drinking and talking loudly and she realized that if she sang louder to try to be heard over them they would talk louder so they could hear over her, so she sang softer and they talked less loudly. She sang even more softly until all ears were soon on her and her voice was the only sound in the room.
The rest of the characters in the movie were basically props for Cybil to react to. The elder performers were very good. The younger ones were okay, their failing being they did the opposite of Cybil. They OVERACTED. Honorable mention goes to Pam Grier. What a delight to see her again and what a delightful character she created. I wanted her to be my friend and my next door neighbor. The movie is obviously a drama but along the way there are some really funny, fun and sweet moments. Cybil's encounter with a purse snatcher is a gem of a moment, TWICE!