J. Edgar with Leonardo DiCaprio

Powerhouse of a movie.  I'm starting to wonder if Clint Eastwood is even capable of making a bad movie. The story sheds light on a time in America that I can only wonder at.  People had manners back then, even when they were being bad.  Leo plays J. Edgar Hoover from a young to old man complete with liver spots, bushy eyebrows, and expanding waistline. 

What struck me in the movie? 
The idealistic zeal of a young J. Eedgar.
The relationship between J. Edgar and his mother
The relationship between J. Edgar and Miss Gandy
The relationship between J. Edgar and Clyde Tolson, his protege and maybe more? The movie certainly intimates at it. 
J. Edgar's seeming need for attention and glory. 

The movie was a study of a man filled with complexities, a need for a love that he repressed for most of his adult life, a ruthless and callus ability to get what he wanted, and a blind, driven devotion to his country.


According to Wikipedia, "Hoover made changes, such as expanding and combining fingerprint files in the Identification Division to compile the largest collection of fingerprints to date.^[12][13] Hoover also helped to expand the FBI's recruitment and create the FBI Laboratory, a division established in 1932 to examine evidence found by the FBI." 
The movie touched on this and were facts that I was unaware of.

Wikipedia also writes, "
In 1956, Hoover was becoming increasingly frustrated by Supreme Court decisions that limited the Justice Department's ability to prosecute people for their political opinions, most notably communists. At this time he formalized a covert "dirty tricks" program under the name COINTELPRO.^[18]
This program remained in place until it was revealed to the public in 1971, after the theft of many internal documents stolen from an office in Media Pennsylvania, and was the cause of some of the harshest criticism of Hoover and the FBI. COINTELPRO was first used to disrupt the Communist Party, and later organizations such as the Black Panther Party, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s SCLC and others. Its methods included infiltration, burglaries, illegal wiretaps, planting forged documents and spreading false rumors about key members of target organizations." 
The movie provides a tantalizing glimpse of this as well. 

One tidbit I will close on....at one point (towards the end) when Nixon takes office, Miss Gandy finds J. Edgar crying in his office.  I believe he is seeing the beginning of the end.  He asks Miss Gandy if anything ever happens to him will his private thoughts be safe?  Miss Gandy assures him no one will ever find his private files.   Fast forward to when Nixon finds out J. Edgar has died, his men storm J. Edgar's office only to find all the file cabinets empty.....  I'd like to think that Miss Gandy hid his files in the Library of Congress.  I do not believe she shredded them as portrayed in the movie.  Why?  Back at the beginning of the movie, J. Edgar and Miss Gandy had a date at the Library of Congress where he revealed he assisted in developing the filing system.  I'd like to think those files are secreted away still just waiting to be revealed.....

The Rum Diary

Johnny Depp blew me away....again.  This guy is one of THE true talents of his generation.  Time will tell whether he is a legend.  The movie was a great period piece about Puerto Rico in the 1960s.  It really struck me how people spoke, dressed, and conversed with one another, It truly was a different time.  On one hand very glamorous and on the other hand the basest or lowest levels of poverty.  And something I didn't know until the very end....the movie and book was based on the journalist, Hunter S. Thompson. I just found out while typing this that Hunter Thompson wrote The Rum Diary as well as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.  You should look him up on Wikipedia...it's very interesting reading.  Here's another interesting tidbit....both Johnny Depp and Hunter S. Thompson were born in Kentucky. 

The Thing

Wow...no I mean seriously Wow!  I had been looking forward to this since seeing the first trailer and wow.  I didn't realize this was a prequel until the very end when the character Lars is chasing the escaped dog in the helicopter which is where the last one began.  I do have to say the movie started kind of slow but more than made up for that once it got going.....  and the gross factor was off the charts lol.  It was kind of interesting how this movie kind of follows the storyline from the last one and I was kind of wondering how they would top some of the scenes from the 1982 version but wow they really did it.  I was actually crouched down in my seat yelling ewww, ewww, ewww at one point because it was so gross.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and will probably see it again. 

Real Steel

Oh my Lord I hope they make a sequel... This movie was so good, it had everything to just tug away at your heart strings.  Dakota Goyo just acts his little heart out in this movie and gives Hugh Jackman a run for the money.  And don't even get me started on the action!  The preview already had me going .... it reminded me so much of the old Rock em Sock em robot toys.  But seriously the fight scenes were so good I was actually yelling at the screen rooting for the robot!  Seriously lol 

Moneyball

Saw Moneyball this afternoon and I have a couple of observations. 

Endearing...I wouldn't have believed it but Jonah Hill playing Peter Brand was endearing and touching in many scenes playing opposite Brad Pitt...is that even possible?  It is...I saw it.  

Brad Pitt.  I doubt if this movie would've gotten the box office it's getting without him.  But while watching the movie it occurred to me that Brad didn't distract from the movie.  His performance seemed sensitive and considerate to the man he was playing.  I was pulled into the movie and at times actually forgot I was watching Brad Pitt.  That is saying something.  

One other thing.  I'm not a baseball fan.  I don't cheer for a team and could only tell you the names of maybe 5 of the teams in Major League Baseball....maybe.  So when I found myself actually having an emotional reaction to the A's bid for an all time record....it made me realize just how emotional a sport baseball is.  I'm sure you could say that about any sport.  Even golf I guess.  Not sure how but I guess.  

The Debt

I just saw The Debt this afternoon.  I was totally engrossed with it, very well made.  A couple of people that I saw it with mentioned afterward that the actors playing the young David and Stefan characters didn't match up very well with the actors playing the present day characters.  I agreed as I was actually wondering if they were new characters and I was trying to figure out who they were at first.  The other thing that struck me was glaring to me but my movie pals didn't notice it.  The young Rachel, played by Jessica Chastain, has a cleft in her chin.  Helen Mirren does not.