Sahara

I thought I’d follow you anywhere, Michael Palin. I’d have done almost anything to go along with you when you went Around the World in 80 Days. I’d gladly have gone with you from Pole to Pole. Himalaya was rough, and with the current state of my feet and legs I could never do the hiking you ... Read more »

Sahara

Memo to the Department of Defense:
They say that only one out of a thousand rounds fired in combat are actually aimed at anything. The other 999 are fired to keep the guy who is shooting at you from having time to aim at you. My own figures, compiled informally from viewing approximately 1,000 movies where bullets ... Read more »

The Salesman

This was directed by Asghar Farhadi, an Iranian. It tells the story of a man and woman forced to move from their Tehran apartment because … it is collapsing! It never totally falls down, but has huge cracks and is clearly untenable. So they end up in a much worse apartment. It turns out the place was previously the home and place of business of something that’s not supposed to exist: an ... Read more »

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

For some reason the British refer to what the rest of the world knows as Yemen as “The Yemen.” They do that with “The Lebanon,” too, and I think maybe a country in Africa, whose name doesn’t come to mind right now and which might not even exist. If anyone out there knows why they do this, I’d like to hear about it. It’s a mystery to me, like the superfluous U in labour, harbour, honour, ... Read more »

Salt

If you’re like me, you really should write your review of a movie like this the same day you see it. As of now, it’s been about two months (it is one of many in my backlog that built up while finishing the new novel), and I honestly can’t recall a single plot point. I just now scanned the Wiki article about it, and a few scenes come back to me, none of them with much enthusiasm. I recall ... Read more »

The Same River Twice

My generation, the Baby Boomers, have been a pain in the ass since we reached elementary school. Our doting parents spoiled us outrageously, and we figured we were the greatest generation of all time, when in fact our parents have a better claim to that honor. We were going to change the world.

Well, we shook things up a little, but now we’re tired, and spoiling children of our ... Read more »

Sammie in Siberia

Harold Lloyd one-reeler. Harold is part of the infamous US Army detachment that went to Vladivostok and Archkangelsk, Siberia, after the Bolshevik revolution to try to put a stop to it. They stayed two years, and didn’t accomplish shit except to earn resentment of the US that persists to this day.

The Bolshies here are shown as the bad guys, plundering and raping the peasants. ... Read more »

San Andreas

It’s like they had a checklist of cliches. The Rock is a man of action, but with a troubled past. Check. His wife is divorcing him because of something in the past. Check. She has taken up with a super-rich man who seems like a nice guy. Check. When the chips are down, the rich bastard abandons their daughter to her fate. Check. I could go on, but you have the picture by now.

Then ... Read more »

The Sandlot

This was not quite as good as I remembered it. It’s still a nice little movie, but some of it seemed to be way over the top. I understand, of course, that this story, of a group of boys who play ball in a sandlot and are terrified of a monstrous dog who lives behind a fence and devours lost baseballs, is seen through the eyes of a young boy. Thus, everything is exaggerated, and that’s ... Read more »