FREE Wholesome Movie - HOBSON'S CHOICE

 

As most of you know I am NOT a big fan of Romantic Comedies. A bunch of people jumping in and out of bed with each other, vulgar dialogue and more banality than one person can handle. They are usually written by women for women. Behold the "Chick-Flick".

But some years ago I came across a movie while watching Turner Classic Movies called,  "Hobson's Choice" . I had never heard of this movie but it was starring Charles Laughton and John Mills and that was all I needed to know. Then I discovered it was one of the earlier films directed by David Lean who also went on to direct such classics as "Doctor Zhivago", "The Greatest Story Ever Told", "Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Lawrence of Arabia".

"Hobson's Choice" is the story of widower, Henry Hobson, who has three unmarried daughters but he considers them so flighty that he decides he will be the one to choose husbands for them because they are driving him insane and he wants them out of the house. All except his practical, oldest daughter, Maggie who (at thirty years of age) he considers too practical, too useful and too OLD to find a husband for. However, "practical" Maggie has other plans. Let the romantic fun begin! 

You can definitely relax with this movie, because it is just a wonderful delight from beginning to end. No graphic scenes, clever and funny dialogue, several plot twists, no bizarre ideologies underneath and lots of REAL life type of romance.

I could gush about this film for a long time but I don't wish to keep you from it a moment longer, except to tell you that it also stars, Brenda de Banzie as Maggie and you will also recognize several others in the supporting cast as well (like Prunella Scales, who later became known as Sybil Faulty of Faulty Towers).

Let's do  a recap of what it takes to make it into this feature.

Laura-Lee's Requirements

• Good Story
• Appeals to BOTH Men & Women
• Funny
• Witty
• Good acting
• Plot Twist
• No Graphic Sex, Violence, or Swearing
• Leaves you with good feelings/thoughts
• "Jazzed" and anxious to share it
• Available on the Internet right now for FREE (so you can watch it Immediately.)

Here's the YouTube Link.

LINK: "HOBSON'S CHOICE" YouTube

Go and enjoy yourself and maybe you will also discover that after watching years of Rom-Com tripe, you might still have a "romantic bone left in your body" too.

The Truth with Love,

Always Laura-Lee

BOOK REVIEW "Two-Minute Mysteries" - Time Well Spent

 

NOTE: I came across this book from my childhood at Thrift Books online but, after writing the Review, I was informed I had to buy the book BEFORE I could submit a review for it. (Talk about "cutting your nose off to spite your face") 

Not wanting to waste my review I decided to publish it here on my OWN blog.

"Nonny, nanny, ha, ha!" 😛 

"Two-Minute Mysteries" by Donald J. Sobol

🍪🍪🍪🍪⭕️  (4 out of 5 Cookies)

I got this small paperback when I was just 9 years old in 1975 (Oops! 🙊 Accidentally outed my age on the Internet again) and loved it.

It is filled with dozens of great mysteries that take literally only a couple of minutes to read. There is a short mystery, the clues you need (usually 3 to 5) are speckled throughout, and the "who dunnit" Question at the end of it. You see if you can figure it out then turn the page and, BOOM, the answer and the rundown of clues you should have spotted.

But don't think this is just for kids. ☝️I got it out of a library when I was in my 20s (after I had forgotten the solutions) and read it again on the bus on the way to work. I recommend it to any age if you wish to train your mind for deductive reasoning AND you love a good mystery.

There are also more Two-minute mysteries that have been published by Sobol (who is now deceased) and don't forget to check his other series for beginning sleuths, "Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective".

Laura-Lee Was Here 😊

LINK to My Goodreads Book Reviews (hundreds of books so far)

How Far Should We Take Our Protests?

 

 

#OliverAnthony has got me thinking about Protest Songs through the years. Last time I talked about SUN CITY and "Artists United Against Apartheid" in South Africa. They used their musical VOICES to make a difference.

Now I want to look at a way to use music WITHOUT VOICES. This is so intensely depicted by #Sting in his video for  "THEY DANCE ALONE"   (1987) which focuses on PINOCHET.

WHO WAS 'PINOCHET'? (Pronounced "Pin-O-Shay")

Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general and dictator who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990. On September 11, 1973, Pinochet seized power in Chile in a coup d'état, with the support of the US, that toppled Allende's democratically elected left-wing Unidad Popular government and ended civilian rule.

The new government rounded up thousands of people and held them in the national stadium, where many were killed. This was followed by brutal repression during Pinochet's rule.

The US provided material support to the military government after the coup, although criticizing it in public. A document released by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 2000, titled "CIA Activities in Chile", revealed that the CIA actively supported the military junta after the overthrow of Allende, and that it made many of Pinochet's officers into paid contacts of the CIA or U.S. military, even though some were known to be involved in human rights abuses.

'He shut down parliament, suffocated political life, banned trade unions, and made Chile his sultanate (Kingdom with an Absolute Ruler). His government disappeared 3,000 opponents, arrested 30,000 (torturing thousands of them) ...

 Pinochet's name will forever be linked to the Desaparecidos, the Caravan of Death, and the institutionalized torture that took place in the Villa Grimaldi complex.'

— Thor Halvorssen, president of the Human Rights Foundation, National Review

(According to the Valech Commission)

In Latin America, this was carried out under Operation Condor, a cooperation plan between the various intelligence agencies of South American countries, assisted by a United States CIA communication base in Panama.

In 2011, the commission identified an additional 9,800 victims of political repression during Pinochet's rule, increasing the total number of victims to approximately 40,018, including 3,065 killed."

THESE THINGS MATTER. ❗️

As we see our Government and civilization crumbling and our freedoms taken away we have to decide NOW, while our "cooler heads prevail", just where we will draw our lines in the sand so that we won't simply become another part of an uncontrolled, angry mob.

The Truth with Love,

Always Laura-Lee 😔✝️🇨🇦

LINK My Previous SUN CITY post

Musically Protesting SUN CITY/Apartheid (1985) : Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

  

I am remembering APARTHEID and the SUN CITY controversy.

The 1980s. The Rock Stars back THEN had more integrity than most Christian ministers do NOW. 🤔

APARTHEID definition 

(in South Africa) a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race.

SUN CITY

"Sun City was developed by the hotel magnate Sol Kerzner as part of his Sun International group of properties.

It could provide entertainment such as gambling and topless revue shows, which were banned in South Africa.

The United Nations had imposed a cultural boycott on South Africa and Sun City in condemnation of its ( PRO) apartheid practices. To overcome this, Kerzner offered substantial financial incentives to performing artists to use Sun City as a venue. Several acts disregarded the boycott and performed at the venue, such as The Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, Cher, Millie Jackson, Liza Minnelli, Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassy,  Olivia Newton-John,  Dolly Parton, Neil Sedaka,  Paul Anka, Status Quo, Rod Stewart  and Elton John.

British rock band Queen's series of performances at the venue in October 1984 in transgression of the boycott caused considerable controversy, prompting criticism in the British music press, a fine from the Musicians' Union and their inclusion on the United Nations' blacklisted artists.

In 1985, E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt made the venue the focus of his music-industry activist group "Artists United Against Apartheid". Forty-nine top recording artists collaborated on a song called  "Sun City" in which they pledged they would not perform at the resort because of their opposition to apartheid."

Did these Artists rip things down or become violent mobs? NO! They hit 'em where it hurt. Their WALLETS❗️💰

You want to change things? Then remember we VOTE WITH OUR MONEY! Actively support things you believe in and don't support the things that are wrong AND send a letter/message to those involved to let them know what you are doing ... and just watch the Fur Fly. 😲🤨🤨🤨🤨

An odd but interesting Flashback as I look at what a Protest song looked like in the 1980s and bring you...

The Truth with Love, 

 Always Laura-Lee 

LINK Martin Luther King Jr. Acceptance Speech for Nobel PEACE Prize

You younger people might not recognize who those Artists are now but Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, U2, Pat Benetar, Bruce Springsteen, Darryl Hall & John Oats, RUN DMC, etc, we're the BIGGEST Rock Stars there were at the time. Sun City went under until Apartheid was abolished in the early 1990s.

#DiscerningPopCulture101  #1980s