MOVIE
This week I saw one of the bravest film performances I’ve ever watched. I’ve been a fan of Emma Thompson ever since she burst onto the scene in the 1980’s with then husband Kenneth Branagh. She’s done some wonderful work over the years, but nothing like this.
In the HULU only production, "Good Luck To You Leo Grande," Thompson plays Nancy Stokes, a woman widowed after a thirty-one-year marriage. In her life, she’s only been sexually intimate with one man… her sexually traditional English husband, who reinforced in her the idea that sex is simply a duty that wives are required to subject themselves to solely for the pleasure of their spouses. Nancy is repressed as
the result of thirty-one years of “just lying there” in the missionary position while her husband does his business. She’s also repressed from her years as a religious education teacher.
Enter Leo Grande, played by Daryl McCormack (a wonderful young actor you’ll be seeing a lot more of if there’s any justice in this world), a young sex worker she hires to break her out of her sexual shell. One “sex-for-hire” session in a hotel room turns into many as the pair develop a friendship in which they share the unfulfilling and disappointing parts of their lives.
There is a scene that everyone is talking about, and it is a SPOILER so if you don’t want to know, skip ahead.
At the end, Ms. Thompson stands in front of a full-length mirror and completely disrobes, showing what the body of a 63-year-old woman, who has not been surgically enhanced with nips, tucks, lifts and Botox REALLY looks like. The message is, that it’s okay to let yourself age. Your body is beautiful and it’s nothing to be ashamed of, despite the message that our culture sends to women and girls about what
their bodies needs to look like if they want to be considered beautiful. It’s a wonderful message about body image that I think will be good for young girls as well as REAL women.
SEE THIS MOVIE!
I’ve got a different recommendation for you this week. Especially if you plan on staying in.
My son-in-law, Patrick, my daughter Carolyn and I have a movie afternoon every Sunday and we take turns showing each other our favorite films or, films we think that the others should view. Patrick picked a real gem called "Life as a House." It’s the story of a man with terminal cancer who decides to tear down the beachfront shack he’s been living in for years and build his dream home with his rebellious
teenage son before he dies. In the process, he ends up building the world around him as well. It’s a 2001 picture and I have no idea how I missed seeing it before now. It’s wonderful. Laughter and tears. It stars Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas, Mary Steenburgen and a young, pre-"Star Wars" Hayden Christiansen. It’s really, really good! We watched it on DVD. See if you can find it streaming someplace. Otherwise, pick up a copy from Amazon. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
WATCH
EATS
My son Adam and I had dinner Original Joe’s in San Francisco’s North Beach this week. Original Joe’s is an institution in these parts, and it’s been much too long since I last visited. The food remains good, the service impeccable and the hamburgers much too large for one person to eat alone.
I had the legendary Joe’s Special consisting of eggs, ground beef, spinach, onions and mushrooms. I haven’t had it in years, and it was as delicious as I remembered.
Original Joe’s is located at 601 Union Street in San Francisco. Reservations are recommended.
SAVE THE DATE
The San Leandro Arts Commission (on which I happen to serve) is producing the largest live comedy event ever presented in the city and it’s FREE!
Comedy in the Plaza is a city-sponsored, outdoor standup comedy concert that will take place in the parking lot of the San Leandro Library (located at 300 Estudillo Avenue in San Leandro) on Saturday, July 16 from 5-7:30.
The show features Carlos Alazraqui (Reno 911, Rocco’s Modern Life), Laurie Kilmartin (NBC’s Last Comic Standing), Johnny Steele (Winner of the San Francisco International Comedy Competition) and more! I will be performing as well as hosting. There will be food trucks as well.
So, mark the date on your calendar and get there early with a blanket or a low back lawn chair and enjoy some free laughs!
Have a safe and terrific Fourth of July!