I often choose movies based on the time I am passing the theater. If a movie is about to start, and it's one I have an interest in, I'll go. It's an impromptu thing.
That's how I got to "A Prairie Home Campanion." It's playing at the theater closest to my home and, well, the timing was right. I figured with such an interesting cast and directed by Robert Altman, it should be worth seeing.
I left the theater thinking, they made that movie because??? It felt disjointed, with pieces that didn't quite fit, like the narrator, Kevin Kline's character. It was a movie that should have taken place in the '30's or '40's, and I guess that's the point. A live radio variety show is a thing of the past. How can it survive today?
And frankly, Garrision Keillor is CREEPY! I had no idea I'd have that sort of reaction to him. I've seen pictures of him; I'm familiar with who he is. I've never read his books. But on film, yewww. He's got eyebrows that could scratch you from across the room. He's weird looking, and he can't help that. But there is something quintessentially not right about him. Maybe because his ground of being is so foreign to me. He makes Minnesota seem like another country, to me at least.
I enjoyed Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin. Lindsay Lohan was miscast. And I am a sucker for Robert Altman. I keep thinking I'm going to enjoy his movies because he has made some fantastic flicks (think "MASH," "Nashville," "McCabe and Mrs Miller," "The Long Goodbye," and "Three Women"). With the exception of "Gosford Park," I haven't really liked any of his films in years. Those that I named were made years ago.
It's a movie that can wait for cable, if you've a mind to see it. But for whom was this movie made? What audience? I think the mean age of the audience I was in was 75.
Reading is freedom.
The mind soars, no earthly cares,
no limitations.
A Maggers Haiku, 2005
Years ago my mother used to say to me... "In this world, Elwood, you can be oh so smart or oh so pleasant."
Well, for years I was smart.
I recommend pleasant.
You may quote me.
Elwood P. Dowd