MacGuffins and Red Herrings

Posted on June 1, 2013 by earthriderjudyberman

The Bates Motel

By Judy Berman

As you sit on the edge of your movie seat, you might be feeling smug because you know what’s coming up next. The director, however, has a few plot devices up his sleeve that you hadn’t counted on.

Some deliberately toy with us by using MacGuffins, red herrings and music to control our thoughts.

MacGuffins drive the story. It might be the theft of documents, or the discovery of a secret, or it could be as simple as a little tune (director Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes). This plot device was popularized by Hitchcock, and earlier used in classic films such as The Maltese Falcon and Citizen Kane.

“The only thing that matters is they must seem of vital importance,” Hitchcock said. As the action intensifies, the MacGuffin “will pretty much be forgotten.”

A red herring is a false clue intended to throw you off track so you do not suspect the real villain, or it leads you to a false conclusion.

As a fan of Agatha Christie mystery novels, my unscientific method to determine who the bad guy was: “who do I least suspect?” That worked perfectly until I read And Then There Were None. In the 2010 movie, Shutter Island, director Martin Scorsese opened with a red herring when Leonardo DiCaprio travels to the island in search of a missing inmate from an insane asylum.

Martin Scorsese, director of “Shutter Island”

Music can manipulate us as well. No doubt the menacing theme from Steven Spielberg’s 1975 movie, Jaws: “dun-dun! dun’dun! dun’dun, dun-dun, dun-dun” had you wishing for a bigger boat.

It also can lull you into a false sense of security, such as Hitchcock used in Psycho by a change in music:

In Psycho, Janet Leigh is on the run with $40,000 she stole from her boss. (The theft is the MacGuffin.)

Leigh is driving in a downpour. Irritating music plays while the wipers work furiously to clear the windshield. When she spots what she thinks is a safe haven for the night, the jarring music stops and she pulls into the Bates Motel.

In the motel, as Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh exchange views, it seems as if she’s decided to return the money. Hitchcock said the viewer is thinking, “this young man is influencing her to change her mind.”

“You turn the viewer in one direction and then in another; you keep him as far as possible from what’s actually going to happen,” Hitchcock said. (This is the red herring.)

Humphrey Bogart as Sam Space in "The Maltese Falcon"

Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade in “The Maltese Falcon”

In The Maltese Falcon (1941), it’s a game of who do you trust. Private detective, Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, was in that situation as the body count mounted and the double-crosses accelerated. Desperate men are searching for a jewel-encrusted black statuette. Then, they discover the statuette is not the one believed to be given to Spanish King Charles V in the 1500s.

When asked what the black statuette is, Bogart concludes that it is “the stuff that dreams are made of.”

Orson Welles as Charles Foster Kane in “Citizen Kane”

Some MacGuffins are ordinary. Throughout Citizen Kane (1941), the question is what drove newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane? Money? Women? Power? Apparently, it was none of those. As he lay dying, Kane’s last words were: “Rosebud.” “The Top Ten Movie MacGuffins” says “the revelation that this MacGuffin was a symbol of Kane’s lost childhood still packs a wallop.”

What films would you add to the MacGuffin list? What would you include in a list of red herring movies?

—

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Judy Berman and earthrider, 2011-13. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to (Judy Berman) and (earthrider, earth-rider.com, or earthriderdotcom) with appropriate and specific direction to the original
content.

—

Video movie trailer: Psycho

—

What is a MacGuffin?
http://www.elementsofcinema.com/screenwriting/macguffin.html

The Top Ten Movie MacGuffins
http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/05/20/top-10-movie-macguffins?page=1

Photo: Psycho – movie set at Universal Studios Hollywood, taken Dec. 2008 by Superchilum
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Psycho_set.JPG/640px-Psycho_set.JPG

Photo: Martin Scorsese at premiere of the film Shutter Island. Taken Feb. 13, 2010. Author: Siebbi
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Martin_Scorsese_Berlinale_2010.jpg/640px-Martin_Scorsese_Berlinale_2010.jpg

Photo: Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Sam_Spade.png

Photo: Orson Welles in Citizen Kane
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Orson_Welles-Citizen_Kane1.jpg

Ruthless People

Posted on April 27, 2013 by earthriderjudyberman

Sam Stone’s schemes to get his wife’s fortune hit a snag in “Ruthless People”

By Judy Berman

When someone does you wrong, how do you handle it? Do you feel powerless?

There’s no need to. You can turn the tables on the bad guy.

There should be an app for that. One you can download – off the Internet or from your local library.

Take a page out of O. Henry’s short story, “The Ransom of Red Chief,” written in 1910. Two kidnappers’ scheme to rip someone off backfires. But getting found out was not the worst of it.

The kidnappers get more than they bargained for when they grab a rich man’s son and hold him for ransom. It soon becomes clear to the men who the real hostages are. Before long, they’re only too willing to pay off the boy’s father so he’ll take his son back.

A twist of that theme has endless possibilities. Here’s how it played out in the movie, “Ruthless People” (1986). Sam Stone (Danny Devito) plans to kill his wife, Barbara (Bette Midler), so he can inherit her fortune. His plot hits a snag when a kidnapper calls and demands Sam pay a ransom of $500,000 to get his wife back … or she’ll be killed if Sam doesn’t pay up.

The conniving, little fiend is delighted, thinking someone else is going to do his dirty work for him, and he’ll soon have Barbara’s fortune.

The kidnappers, Ken (Judge Reinhold) and Sandy Kessler (Helen Slater), hatched this scheme to get back at the Sam for profiting from a fashion design he stole from Sandy.

Too late, Ken realizes he has double-trouble: Barbara is a terror that he’d be only too eager to return and her husband doesn’t want her back. Ken drops his demand to $50,000 after Sam fails to show for the ransom drop.

Furious about being kidnapped and unaware why she’s still held captive.

Unaware of the stalled negotiations, Barbara has been working out in her kidnappers’ cellar. She’s dropped about 20 pounds. Sandy notices, brings out designer clothes that would make any fashionista ecstatic and suggests Barbara try them on. They are Sandy’s creations.

Sandy confides to Barbara that she was kidnapped to get back at Sam and her for stealing her creative ideas and profiting from it. Barbara tells Sandy she didn’t know Sam had stolen Sandy’s designs.

Then, Barbara asks when she’s going to be released. Sandy reluctantly tells her that Sam will not pay the ransom, even though they just dropped their demand to $10,000.

Barbara’s dumbfounded. She’s worth a fortune. She cries, “I’m being marked down? I’ve been kidnapped by Kmart!”

Sam’s girlfriend has get-rich plans of her own. Carol (Anita Morris), a gold-digger, conspires with her dimwitted boyfriend, Earl Mott (Bill Pullman), to blackmail Sam. She wants Earl to videotape Sam when he disposes his wife’s body.

Carol doesn’t bother to view the tape first and mails it to police. Instead, the videotaped evidence will show another “crime” in progress. Carol convinces police to investigate Barbara’s disappearance. When they’re snooping around, Sam realizes he better bring Barbara back alive … or, he could be charged with her murder.

Now, Sam is only too eager to pay the ransom. There’s just one little glitch. Barbara’s cooked up a plan with the kidnappers to fleece Sam out of more than $2 million.

Sam’s outraged, but he agrees to meet Ken. When Carol learns of the drop, she tells Earl to go steal the ransom money.

They’re not clowning around as they wrestle with ransom payoff.

What follows is Murphy’s Law: anything that can go wrong will. Cops lay in wait for Ken to show up. The slow-speed chase that follows and the final outcome are hysterical. Revenge is sweet.

It’s an ending that O. Henry would approve of. Perhaps, it will provide inspiration to you should you want to even the score.

Movie Trailer – Ruthless People – Barbara attempts to escape her kidnappers

—

Video: Ruthless People – “I’ve been kidnapped by Kmart”

Video – Music – Ruthless People sung by Mick Jagger

Main Photo – Ruthless People – Danny Devito and Bette Midler – split image
http://www.bing.com/images/search?danny+devito+and+ruthless+people&qpvt=danny+devito+and+ruthless+people&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=FB0D724D61A89E65C72C92AE05B397079810994F

Photo – Ruthless People – Bette Midler exercising during her captivity
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=bette+midler+and+ruthless+people&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=bette+midler+and+ruthless+people&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&id=6629F167CA33F3374F3281A019EEC4BA3D788128&selectedIndex=46

Photo – Ruthless People – Danny Devito and Judge Reinhold wrestling over the ransom money
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=danny+devito+and+ruthless+people&qpvt=danny+devito+and+ruthless+people&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=306DBF9F8781AF9239A7804A48F5C3F750EC9E52&selectedIndex=259

Jurassic Park

Posted on April 13, 2013 by earthriderjudyberman

Jurassic Park returns to a time ‘When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth’

By Judy Berman

An unseen menace terrorizes a tiny island off Costa Rica.

It’s the premier attraction in a new theme park – Jurassic Park – that will feature living dinosaurs. The dinosaurs are the main event in this Steven Spielberg movie (the first one released in 1993 is now in theaters in 3D).

But there is much more to this film. Spielberg’s “basic ideas are family values, illumination and flight,” said Douglas Brode, author of “The Films of Steven Spielberg” and film professor at Syracuse University.

At night, as workers maneuver a crate near the gates, the creature inside attempts to escape and kills one of the workers as they try to contain it.

The dark side of greed emerges when Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) gleefully embraces a satchel filled with money. In return, he’s to steal dinosaur embryos from the park and turn them over to his boss’s competitor.

Miners in the Dominican Republic find golden amber that appears to be lit from within. One holds it up for us to admire. We see a mosquito from antiquity that once sucked a dinosaur’s blood.

When that blood is extracted, scientists at John Hammond’s (Richard Attenborough) lab use the DNA to create animals that roamed the earth millions of years ago. Tyrannosaurus rex (T-rex) and Velociraptor are among the park’s deadly predators.

After that fatal attack, Hammond persuades two scientists – paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and his girlfriend, Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) – to visit and endorse his park. If they do, Hammond says he’ll then get approval to open. Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), a chaos theorist, and an attorney, Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero), join them.

They gasp in amazement when they first see gentle plant-eating dinosaurs, Brachiosaurus, roam the park. Dr. Grant says dinosaurs are distant relatives of birds – not reptiles – and later wonders when they learned to fly.

But they’re concerned about the living biological attractions.

”Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they did not stop to think if they should,” Dr. Malcolm tells Hammond.

The T-rex in a museum is scary enough.

Hammond tries to reassure them. He sends Grant, Sattler, Malcolm and Gennaro off with his two grandchildren, Lex and Tim, to tour the park in a computer-controlled Ford Explorer.

The tour is disappointing. The T-rex and Velociprators are a no-show. The Triceratops is sick, and Sattler stays behind to help the ailing creature. A tropical storm is approaching and the tour cars break down.

Nedry takes advantage of the chaos and deactivates the park’s security system so he can gain access to a secure area and steal the embryos. This also deactivates most of the park’s 10,000-volt electric fences that contain the T-rex. Soon, the stalled tour has an uninvited guest.

“The villainous Nedry loses his glasses (his source of light) at a key moment during his attempted escape. The Dilophosaur that stalks him, at first sight appears to be as harmless as a puppy. … he is unaware of the creature’s killer instincts, and suffers the consequences,” Brode writes in “Spielberg.”

Frustrated, Hammond and Ray Arnold (Samuel L. Jackson) decide to shut down the command center’s whole computer system and then reboot it. This disables the remaining fences and two Velociraptors are now on the loose.

Back on the tour, a sound of thunder as the ground vibrates. Water begins to tremble in glasses on the dash, signaling the T-rex’s approach. The attorney (Gennaro) flees the vehicle and races to a port-a-john, leaving the kids alone.

Lex finds a powerful searchlight and turns it on. This attracts T-rex. He kicks the car over and attacks it. Grant jumps out of the Ford, shouts at the T-rex and throws a flare. Malcolm joins him and yells as he also attempts to divert T-rex away from the children.

T-rex breaks into the port-a-potty and devours the attorney. T-rex returns to the vehicle and knocks it over the ledge. Grant and Lex escape. He tells Lex to hide while he returns for her brother.

She stammers, “He left us,” referring to the attorney.

Grant reassures her that he will be back. Grant rescues Tim. It’s night, and he takes the frightened children up a tree to sleep. When they awake, Lex is startled to see Brachiosaurus grazing nearby, but soon warms to them.

Later, Grant spots recently hatched dinosaur eggs, a reminder of Malcolm’s warning that “life will find a way.” The dinosaurs, who were all supposed to be female, are breeding.

On their return, they evade a Gallimimus stampede. “They’re like a flock of birds evading a predator,” Grant notes, and Tim points out “they’re flocking our way.” A T-rex attacks one of the “herd.”

Malcolm, who was injured in this skirmish, is rescued by Sattler and game warden Robert Muldoon (Bob Peck). The empty car gives them hope that the kids are safe with Grant. Then Malcolm sees the puddle in the T-rex’s footprint vibrating – an impact tremor.

T-rex is returning. They flee in a car with the T-rex in hot pursuit.

The ground trembles as the T-rex returns.

“Think they’ll have that on the tour,” Dr. Malcolm says sarcastically as they narrowly escape.

No one is safe. Restoring the compound’s power creates hazards of its own. The T-rex and the Veliciraptors invade the compound. The humans – in their ever-dwindling numbers – require outside help in their flight to safety.

What did you think of Steven Spielberg’s original Jurassic Park movies? Will you see the one in 3-D? (I think the original movie does hold up. It’s great to see it on the big screen, but I don’t believe the 3-D version adds anything.)

Movie Trailer – JurassicPark - (1993)

—

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Judy Berman and earthrider, 2011-13. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to (Judy Berman) and (earthrider, earth-rider.com, or
earthriderdotcom) with appropriate and specific direction to the original
content.

—

(link to Jurassic Park 3D movie trailer)
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/jurassic-park/

Photo: Jurassic Park – gate and dinosaur’s shadow
http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/26900000/Jurassic-Park-wallpaper-jurassic-park-26962232-800-600.jpg

Photo: T-rex, (Tyrannosaurus rex), Palais de la Découverte, Paris, Copyright © 2005 David Monniaux
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Palais_de_la_Decouverte_Tyrannosaurus_rex_p1050040.jpg/594px-Palais_de_la_Decouverte_Tyrannosaurus_rex_p1050040.jpg

Photo: Tyrannosaurus rex (T-rex) footprint, size comparison. Taken at the “Museum of Science” by Chris Kirkman
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Trex_footprint.jpg/399px-Trex_footprint.jpg

A Reel-Life Disaster Film

Posted on April 6, 2013 by earthriderjudyberman

Three hundred miles away, I can only imagine chaos unfolding.

By Judy Berman

Sheila hasn’t called in a while, and that usually means trouble.

Movie script writers would salivate to be able to tell her story. But it often is one she doesn’t want to share because she doesn’t want to “trouble” any one. Sheila’s golden silence, however, automatically triggers the exact response she wishes to avoid.

“Hey, Sheila,” my calls always begin in an upbeat fashion. “What’s happening? I checked the obits, and you weren’t listed.”

“Everything’s OK … (a very pregnant pause) … now. Oh! (almost as an afterthought). When you talk to Jan (a mutual friend), tell her I wrote a letter, but it burnt in the fire.”

“What fire?” I ask. (I shake my head as I wonder: “how come my calls are never like the ones in the commercials? ring. ring.)

“Nothing serious,” Sheila says soothingly. “I lit a match to look under the mattress, and it caught on fire. Damaged my bedroom!”

“Got a pen handy?” she inquires casually. “I’ll give you my new address.”

“You moved?” I’m 300 miles away and am powerless to do more than just voice my concern.

“Yeah, had to after the fire. Didn’t need that expense on top of the parking tickets.”

Common sense dictates that, if I ever want another full night’s sleep, this is the point where I should hang up and get an unlisted number. But, a morbid fascination keeps me hanging on.

“Parking ticket problem?” I mumble, knowing the answer won’t be a simple one.

“Yeah, my neighbor had been moving it for me every day – alternate parking here. But when he went in the hospital, the car just sat there accumulating tickets. Sometimes as many as three or four tickets a day.”

“What with the other problems I’d been having,” she continues unmercifully, “I sort of put it on the low side of my priorities. Up until I got the notice threatening to garnish my wages if I didn’t pay up, that is.”

Now, Sheila’s been relatively unruffled during this whole story. I, on the other hand, have not exhaled once.

I take another breath, pause and ask, “How much do you owe?

“Twelve hundred dollars!”

I inhale incredulously and then, mercifully, exhale. Despite that kind of money not being within her reach, she’s been calm. Almost Zen-like.

Still Sheila’s closing remark nearly unglues me.

“When you talk to Jan about me, try not to worry her.”

“No problem,” I assure her. “I know exactly how to handle this. Trust me”

As I hang up the phone, I’m thinking: “I’ll just tell Jan that they’re making your life story into a disaster film. And it’ll be bigger than “Titanic,” “Towering Inferno” and “Airport” all rolled into one.”

* Is your favorite disaster movie on the list below? What are your candidates?

—

Video: TOP 10 “IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT!” MOVIES

IMDb’s Top 100 Best Disaster Films – list.
http://www.imdb.com/list/hvpKFksMvTI/

Video: Airport (1970) This disaster movie was spoofed by the “Airplane” movies.

Video: Towering Inferno (1974)

Video: Titanic (1997)

Main Photo – War of the Worlds – Movie set of the 2005 Steven Spielberg film, War of the Worlds (2005) on Universal Studios Theme park in Los Angeles. Photo taken Feb. 28, 2006 by Mr. Bullitt.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/War_of_the_Worlds_set.JPG/640px-War_of_the_Worlds_set.JPG

Photo: parking meter
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Parking_meter_pd_med.jpg/341px-Parking_meter_pd_med.jpg

Photo: burning match – taken Jan. 2, 2006 by Sebastian Ritter (Rise0011)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Streichholz.jpg/320px-Streichholz.jpg

Money and Madness

Posted on March 23, 2013 by earthriderjudyberman

A high roller scammed the casino out of $33-million.

A high roller scammed the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia out of $33-million.

By Judy Berman

Few can resist the siren call of the one-armed bandits as they step off their planes into the Las Vegas airport.

Passengers are bombarded with the jangle of bells, the whirring of machines and the occasional payout of coins tumbling into the trays. They have to run the gantlet of one-armed bandits before they can even pick up their luggage

Some stop awhile to play just for luck. A rare few might win the jackpot. Others hunger for much higher stakes.

The scoundrels are always looking for an angle to beat the house. It looks so easy in the movie “Ocean’s Eleven” with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia and Matt Damon.

Their score seems far-fetched. Impossible. But, several weeks ago, life imitated art. An Australian casino was taken for about $33 million by one of its high rollers. Just like the movie, he used the casino’s surveillance system in his sting.

In “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001), George Clooney plays Danny Ocean. Recently released from prison, Ocean and Brad Pitt (as Rusty Ryan) recruit a team of con men, safecrackers and security experts. The 11 members plan to rob three casinos that share the same vault – the Bellagio, the Mirage and the MGM Grand. All of them are owned by Andy Garcia (as Terry Benedict).

Just what are the odds of pulling off the perfect sting? (Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and George Clooney)

Just what are the odds of pulling off the perfect sting? (“Ocean’s Eleven” stars: Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and George Clooney)

Ocean’s motives are personal. Benedict is dating Tess Ocean (Julia Roberts) – Danny’s ex-wife – and Danny hopes to win her back. Plus, he hopes to scam $150 million from the heist.

To pull off this caper, Ocean’s team builds an exact replica of the vault in a warehouse. This is the vault that the casino’s monitors will be watching instead of the actual one.

Clooney, a smooth operator, pulls off this caper with sleight-of-hand skills that would make an experienced magician seem sluggish and unimaginative. Power is cut across the city. The video cameras do not betray the gang’s access to the vault, and it becomes easy pickings.

Casinos are vulnerable in real life as well.

In Melbourne, the Australian Broadcasting Station (ABC) reported that a foreigner hacked into the Crown Casino’s high-tech “security surveillance system and scammed the casino for $33 million.”

From the description of the rip-off, it sounds like the thief also was channeling Goldfinger. Envision Gert Frobe (as Goldfinger) playing cards and winning hefty amounts from his unsuspecting pigeon. His secret? High above the card game, a woman was able to view the “pigeon’s” hand thru her binoculars. Then she relayed the information to Goldfinger via an earpiece that he was wearing.

Goldfinger’s scam discovered, and he’s told to start losing.

This is apparently what the thief did at the Crown. Investigators suspect that the high roller and an inside accomplice gained access to the casino’s high-resolution cameras which allowed him to “have the content phoned into him via an earpiece he was wearing,” according to ABC.

The Herald Sun reports that “cheating was exposed over eight hands of cards played in a short space of time.”

The casino reportedly kicked the high roller out of the Crown’s pricey villa. He will be prohibited from returning to the casino, and the casino employee who aided in the theft has been sacked.

Some say this could have been prevented if casinos monitored for wireless transmissions.

Crown officials are hopeful that they can recover a significant amount of the money stolen during this scam. Las Vegas-based casino consultant Barron Stringfellow said that’s unlikely “if the thief was able to leave the property with the windfall,” according to an MSN News report.

The odds are not in the casino’s favor.

—

Video – Movie Trailer for “Ocean’s Eleven” with George Clooney and Brad Pitt

—

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Judy Berman and earthrider, 2011-13. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to (Judy Berman) and (earthrider, earth-rider.com, or
earthriderdotcom) with appropriate and specific direction to the original
content.

—

Photo – Ocean’s Eleven – Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and George Clooney on a Dec. 7, 2001, tour of Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. The trio, along with Julia Roberts and Andy Garcia, visited the base to show their appreciation for U.S. troops overseas. Photo taken by Airman 1^st Class Tanaya M. Harms

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Pitt_Clooney_Damon.jpg/640px-Pitt_Clooney_Damon.jpg

Photo: Crown Casino – Melbourne, Australia – taken by Adam,J.W.C.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Eureka_on_yarra%2C_the_crown_casino_in_melbourne.jpg/575px-Eureka_on_yarra%2C_the_crown_casino_in_melbourne.jpg

Photo: Goldfinger – Gert Frobe – playing cards
http://samsspot.tumblr.com/

Video and story – High roller stole $33 million from Crown Casino in Australia, similar tactics used in movie “Ocean’s Eleven”
http://news.msn.com/world/man-steals-dollar33-million-from-australian-casino-in-oceans-eleven-esque-heist

Crown casino high-tech heist – Herald Sun
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/crown-casino-hi-tech-scam-nets-32-million/story-fnat79vb-1226597666337

Crown casino rocked by betting scam – ABC
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-15/crown-casino-rocked-by-massive-betting-scam/4574556

Crown casino sting … 7 news
http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/national/watch/ecee6470-3b48-3fe0-aef6-4f14f1e83264/

A Devine Bit o’ Blarney

Posted on March 16, 2013 by earthriderjudyberman

A woman leans backwards to kiss the Blarney Stone.

By Judy Berman

On the train from Dublin to Blarney, I begin to wonder just what I’d gotten myself into. The signs posted were in Gaelic. The folks around us were speaking in a beautiful brogue – and we didn’t understand a word.

But we arrived without a hitch and basked in the village folks’ warm welcome.

The old castle, built in 1446, beckons. It’s the third structure built on this site, and it’s a long climb. This trek, taken years ago, meant that I’d have to lean over an empty space in the wall while lying on my back to kiss the Blarney Stone. Well, I had some second and third thoughts about that before finally giving in.

I was convinced that I didn’t need to do this to acquire the gift of eloquence. Being part-Irish, I always assumed that was in my DNA. But my husband and I did just that. (Our youngest daughter, who already has the gift o’ gab, declined.)

Blarney Castle

After kissing the stone, you are supposed to be bestowed with the gift of blarney – or “clever, flattering” talk. Smooth-talking charm aside, I doubt that I could have pulled off what townspeople in the tiny Irish village of 52 people in Tullymore (Tulaigh Mhór) accomplished.

One of their own won the National Lottery. But no one knew who. I’d lived in a community like this. The livestock outnumber the residents and everyone knows everyone else’s business. The world almanac of misinformation, the owner at the local grocery store, filled in whatever information was missing.

The townspeople hold a chicken supper, hoping that the winner will at last be revealed. No dice. But they notice that one of the townsfolk is missing: Ned Devine. Quite odd.

Two friends, Ian Bannen (as Jackie O’Shea) and David Kelly (as Michael O’Sullivan) rush to Devine’s cottage to confront him. But Ned is dead, and in his hand is the winning lottery ticket. The shock of winning killed him.

Honest folks would have alerted authorities. When 7 million pounds is involved, however, scheming Irish eyes are smiling about what they could do with the prize money.

In “Waking Ned Devine” (1998), Jackie is convinced by a dream that Ned wants the town to share his wealth. So Jackie and Michael plot with the townspeople to deceive the claim inspector from Dublin. They are all to pretend that Ned is alive and well. Then they can all be rich.

In the scam to defraud the lottery officials, Michael poses as Ned. This becomes a bit awkward when the claim inspector stumbles into the church where Ned’s funeral is being held. The villagers pretend the service is for Michael.

As Jackie rides with the claim inspector to Ned’s cottage, Michael drives at breakneck speed, naked, on a motorcycle to beat them there.

Everyone’s on board with this conspiracy – except one who has designs of her own on the money. Aye, and that’s the rub … in this fine tale filled with blarney, deception, twists and laughter.

“Erin go Bragh” … Long live Ireland.

—

Video – movie trailer: “Waking Ned Devine”

—

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Judy Berman and earthrider, 2011-13. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to (Judy Berman) and (earthrider, earth-rider.com, or
earthriderdotcom) with appropriate and specific direction to the original
content.

—

Photo: BlarneyCastle - BlarneyCastle and adjacent east tower View is to west from walkway. To kiss the Blarney Stone, you must climb the steps to the top of castle, go to the arch shown in the photo, lay on your back, and arch your head backwards to kiss the Blarney Stone at the base of the arch shown in the photo. Photo taken April 2001 by Joseph Mischyshyn.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Blarney_Castle_and_adjacent_east_tower_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1625431.jpg/400px-Blarney_Castle_and_adjacent_east_tower_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1625431.jpg

Photo: Blarney Stone – woman kissing the Blarney Stone (Blarney Castle, Ireland) – August 2002
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Blarney_stone.png/454px-Blarney_stone.png

Blarney Castle – the home of the Blarney Stone
http://www.blarneycastle.ie/

Rear Window

Posted on March 9, 2013 by earthriderjudyberman

James Stewart as L.B. “Jeff” Jeffries and Grace Kelly as Lisa Freemont, “Rear Window” (1954)

By Judy Berman

Just how quickly can you size up a person and a situation?

“Rear Window” opens with sweat rolling down James Stewart’s forehead as he sleeps. The thermostat in his apartment window reads 94 degrees. In the Greenwich Village courtyard outside, an ad blares on a neighbor’s radio, a clock’s jarring alarm awakens another couple who is sleeping on the fire escape, and a woman across the way is exercising in her tiny apartment.

The camera slowly pans around inside the apartment. Director Alfred Hitchcock reveals how Stewart wound up in a wheelchair, what he does for a living, and what his neighbors are like.

On his cast: “Here lie the broken bones of L. B. Jefferies.”

L.B. Jeffries’ camera broken while he was shooting photos of a car crash at a race track.

The focus shifts to a broken camera atop a table near photos of a car crash at a racetrack. It looks like the cars are about to topple onto the photographer. Among the photos, a negative of a woman. Then her finished print is on a cover of a stack of magazines.

Within 2½ minutes, without saying one word, Hitchcock shows you plenty about his main character, L. B. “Jeff” Jeffries, played by Stewart.

Stewart is a top photographer for a magazine. He was injured six weeks earlier, taking that dramatic shot of the race car. He’s itching to get out of his plaster cocoon and back into action.

Meanwhile, in his boredom, he admits he has nothing to do but watch his neighbors. We become unwitting partners in his rear-window ethics as he moves from “people watching” to “peeping Tom.” We never avert our eyes when what we see is the very personal stories of people’s private lives.

“All of the stories have a common denominator in that they involve some aspect of love. James Stewart’s problem is that he doesn’t want to marry Grace Kelly. Everything he sees across the way has a bearing on love and marriage,” said Francois Truffaut in an interview with Hitchcock about his films.

James Stewart and Grace Kelly

Stewart’s voyeurism narrows in on one couple in particular – Lars Thorwald (played by Raymond Burr) and his invalid wife. They bicker constantly.

One night, Stewart hears a loud crash and a scream. The next morning, the wife is missing and Burr is acting suspiciously. He’s rolling up his wife’s bedcovers and wrapping a knife and saw in newspaper.

Then, late at night, Stewart sees the salesman carrying his sample suitcase to and from his apartment. Stewart suspects Burr murdered his wife.

At first, Kelly, who plays a high-society fashion consultant, dismisses Stewart’s hunches.

Jeff (Stewart): Why would a man leave his apartment three times on a rainy night with a suitcase and come back three times?

Lisa (Kelly): He likes the way his wife welcomes him home.

Stewart’s physical therapist, Stella, (played by Thelma Ritter), also downplays his fears.

Thelma Ritter (as Stella), Grace Kelly and James Stewart focus in on Raymond Burr (as Lars Thorwald)

Soon, however, all three suspect foul play and watch Thorwald’s every move. At Stewart’s request, his old Army buddy investigates. The buddy, now a police detective, Thomas J. Doyle (Wendell Corey), tells Stewart that there was no murder. He says the missing wife moved to the country.

They’re disappointed and feel a little foolish … until, one evening when Stewart and Kelly hear a piercing scream cut thru the courtyard. A neighbor’s dog is dead, killed. All the neighbors rush to their windows to see what happened. All of them … but, one.

Only the burning ember of the suspected killer’s cigarette is visible as he sits in his darkened apartment.

The motive? The dog was digging in Thorwald’s garden shortly after something was buried there. Kelly decides to break into Thorwald’s apartment to search for evidence that would prove his wife was dead. First, Stewart calls Thorwald to arrange a meeting at a bar down the street as a pretext to get Thorwald out of the apartment. Stewart hints at blackmail.

Kelly gains entry to Thorwald’s apartment and finds the evidence she needs. But Thorwald returns before she can escape.

Here, Hitchcock, the Master of Supsense, builds tension in that encounter and in another inside Stewart’s apartment.

Hitchcock made no apologies for the 1954 film’s hero spending all his time peeping out of the window.

“Sure, he’s a snooper, but aren’t we all?”

Alfred Hitchcock suspects that when we view someone across a courtyard that most of us will stay and look. No one says “It’s none of my business.”

Video: movie trailer, “Rear Window,” (1954) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m01YktiEZCw

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Judy Berman and earthrider, 2011-13. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to (Judy Berman) and (earthrider, earth-rider.com, or
earthriderdotcom) with appropriate and specific direction to the original
content.

—

Photos: all of the photos from “Rear Window” are from the website fanpop.com

Photo: Alfred Hitchcock
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Hitchcock%2C_Alfred_02.jpg/541px-Hitchcock%2C_Alfred_02.jpg

Stand By Me

Posted on February 16, 2013 by earthriderjudyberman

This reminds me so much of Rusty

By Judy Berman

Think back to your school days. If you’re still there, reach a little further back. How many of your close friends then are still a part of your life?

In Stephen King’s novella, “The Body” (the movie: “Stand By Me”), he noted that he never had any friends like the ones he did when he was 12. Friends that he was really tight with one summer became just “two more faces in the halls” later on.

“It happens sometimes. Friends come in and out of your life like busboys in a restaurant,” Richard Dreyfuss’ character says.

My closest friend, the one I could always count on whether I was having a great day or a real downer, came into my life when I was 8.

One snowy night in November, shortly after we’d moved from Pennsylvania to New York State, my Dad came home. He smiled and told me he had a surprise for me.

He pulled out a Cocker Spaniel puppy that he’d hidden under his coat. We named him Rusty for his color.

me with my brother, Hank, and Dad with Rusty

The puppy was proof-positive that Dad was a master diplomat. He knew my Mom was terrified of dogs ever since she was cornered by two dogs when she was younger. Somehow, he convinced her that Rusty was no threat and would be a real asset to our family.

He was right about the second part. Rusty, however, did turn out to be a formidable threat to anyone who he felt was a danger to our family. One night, when Dad was working late, a pushy salesman tried to gain entry into our home. When Mom went to close the door, he thrust his foot in so she couldn’t lock him out.

Rusty growled a warning that the salesman ignored. Then, the pup – now nearly a year old – bit the salesman. The salesman threatened to sue. Mom told him he was lucky the dog didn’t cause more damage, and the salesman left.

But most of our adventures were outside. Some of them were risky. I was a real tomboy then. My folks would have had more gray hairs if they knew of the time I rode a raft over a swampy area near our home. Rusty was with me, of course.

My trusty sidekick must have thought I knew what I was doing. If I fell in, I knew he would jump in after me to rescue me. Or, at least, that’s what I hoped would happen because I didn’t know how to swim.

Over the years, Rusty was a constant in my life, someone I could count on. One rainy day, when I was 18, Rusty was missing. I searched frantically for him, fearing that something was wrong.

I was relieved when I found him outside near our home. My joy did not last for long. After 10 years, my best friend was ready to cross to the other side of the bridge. Maybe, some day, we’ll meet again.

This is a tribute to my first dog, Rusty, for International Friendship Month.

—

Movie trailer: “Stand By Me” (1986) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUVnfaA-kpI

—

Main photo: Cocker Spaniel awaiting. Photo taken by Sebastian Oliva, licensed under Creative Commons by Bubamara.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Cocker_Spaniel_Awaiting.jpg/640px-Cocker_Spaniel_Awaiting.jpg

Photo: me holding my baby brother, Hank; Dad and Rusty

Photo: Rusty – my first dog and trusty sidekick

Another Time, Another Place

Posted on January 12, 2013 by earthriderjudyberman

After midnight, Paris is magic.

By Judy Berman

What if you could step back in time in an exotic location?

One year, while vacationing in Paris, my husband and I traipsed along the streets late at night in a misty rain. As we did, I wondered what if … what if we lived here. How would our lives change?

It was a romantic notion. Our French was minimal. But, I rationalized that could be overcome by immersing ourselves in the culture and language.

That idealism glossed over that our family would be living on the other side of the pond and the outlook for a job – with our having limited French-speaking skills – would be bleak.

What would you do?

Suppose, it’s late at night. You’re out alone on the streets of Paris. An older model car slows to a stop near you. The passengers look like they’re headed to a party. They’re dressed in 1920s clothing and beckon you to join them. On an impulse, you jump in.

What happens next? You go to a tavern and meet the creative talents of another era. It’s magical and it all seems so real.

The Eiffel Tower in the City of Lights, Paris.

That’s the premise of the Woody Allen film, “Midnight in Paris.” (2011) Owen Wilson (as Gil) is a successful Hollywood writer. He wants to move to Paris and leave his lucrative career behind to write a book about a man in a nostalgia shop.

His fiancé, Inez (played by Rachel McAdams) dismisses his dream. She loves the idea of marrying a Hollywood writer and wants to live in Malibu.

This is not the only area where the two clash. When Gil takes long walks in the City of Lights, it’s not just creative inspiration he’s searching for. But he doesn’t realize that at first.

The ride takes him back in time to the 1920s which he views as the golden age when several ex-pats were living in Paris. At the party, he meets Corey Stoll (as author Ernest Hemingway), Kathy Bates (as Gertrude Stein), Tom Hiddleston (as F. Scott Fitzgerald), and Alison Pill (as Zelda Fitzgerald).

Gil idolizes Hemingway and is thrilled when the literary great says he’ll show the book to Gertrude Stein. Gil dashes back to his hotel to retrieve his manuscript. But when he returns, the tavern where he met Hemingway and his new friends are gone. Without explanation, Gil is back in the present.

For several nights, Gil continues his time travel. As he does he begins to fall in love with a woman from the 1920s. But, just as Gil feels torn about the path to take, so does the young woman. He toys with the idea of staying. When he discovers that Inez is cheating on him, it appears fate is clearing the way for him to justify returning to the past.

Bateau-Mouche (boat tours) on Seine River in Paris near the Notre-Dame Cathedral

What would you do? It’s tempting to think that life would be better in another time, another place. Or, would you decide that despite life’s bumps and bruises that the here and now is really the best place of all?

—

If you’d like to explore that premise, check out Ronnie Hammer’s blog. She writes about her book club’s discussion of “Dreaming in French” by Alice Kaplan. Her book describes three young women in the 1950s and 60s – Jacqueline Bouvier, Susan Sontag and Angela Davis – who spent part of their youth in Paris. Here is the link:
http://morristownmemos.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/book-club-meeting/

—

Video Movie Clip: “Midnight in Paris,” with Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Corey Stoll and Kathy Bates.

—

Photo: Midnight in Paris. Photo taken by McKay Savage from London, UK
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Midnight_in_Paris_%286287019647%29.jpg

Photo: Eiffel Tower – Paris photo taken by Poco a poco on Feb. 14, 2010 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Eiffel-Tower_Paris_Feb2010.jpg/640px-Eiffel-Tower_Paris_Feb2010.jpg

Photo: Bateau-Mouche (boat tours) on Seine River in Paris near the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Photo taken by Jebulon on April 2, 2011
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Bateau-Mouche_Notre-Dame.jpg/603px-Bateau-Mouche_Notre-Dame.jpg

Listening for Santa’s Sleigh Bells

Posted on December 15, 2012 by earthriderjudyberman

A child gives Santa a gift during an annual party.

By Judy Berman

This time of year, right around Christmas, I step into a time warp to a place back home in Central New York.

It is the first snowfall. Streetlights highlight the stark whiteness. Dave, our girls and I drive around the neighborhood to see how the houses are decked out. One neighbor has a huge snow dragon in his front yard, and part of it is dyed green. Other homes look like the Griswalds’ – a light show consuming every inch of their home.

I love it when the snowflakes are huge, white crystals like the detergent Ivory Snow. Or, when the snow is like butter and just slides off the top of your car with one gentle push.

But, now, at nightfall, the snow is like granular sugar. You can tell it is cold just by how the snow crunches underfoot. Like that scene in the 2004 film, “The Polar Express,” where a young boy is beginning to look for signs to confirm Santa’s presence.

It’s that moment that parents like Shona dread. She suspects her child is beginning to question the existence of that widely talked about, but rarely sighted jolly old elf. In a letter to Santa, her daughter asks how he can deliver so many presents in such a short span.

Shona’s daughter writes to Santa

Never mind more probing interrogation such as: How can Santa get into Jimmy’s house when they don’t have a chimney? How does he get up the elevator in the high-rise? How can the sleigh fly if it’s weighted down by so many presents? They’ve heard the naysayers.

Still, like the boy in the story, many don’t want to rush to judgment. They just want reassurances.

“On Christmas Eve, many years ago, I lay quietly on my bed. I did not rustle the sheets. I breathed slowly and silently. I was listening for a sound – a sound a friend told me I’d never hear – the ringing bells of Santa’s sleigh,” wrote author Chris Van Allsburg in “The Polar Express.”

Well, he does hear a sound. But it’s not the gentle ringing of a bell. It’s the “sounds of hissing steam and squeaking metal. I saw a train standing perfectly still in front of my house.”

He ran up to the train. When the conductor said it was the Polar Express, the boy clambered aboard. By the time the boy returns home, any nagging doubts he had have been answered.

I love the scene where the boy realizes he could have any gift in the world. It reminds me when my brother, Hank, was about 3. Hank asked for only three things for Christmas: Golden Books, Chiclets and Sun Maid Raisins. He was delighted to find them under the tree Christmas morning.

The little boy in the book and the movie also was ecstatic to discover he got the gift he thought he lost: a beautiful-sounding silver bell that fell from Santa’s sleigh. It’s a bell that can only be heard by those who truly believe.

We have a copy of that bell. The kid in all of us wants to believe in magical moments and a time of innocence.

I shake the bell, and smile when I hear its melodic ringing.

When Jolly Old Saint Nick is busy, his helpers step in. Chief Warrant Officer Marc Lefebvre dressed as Santa to greet children in Singapore.

—

Movie clip: The Polar Express – A boy visits the North Pole as he seeks answers about Santa and the magic of Christmas.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Judy Berman and earthrider, 2011-12. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to (Judy Berman) and (earthrider, earth-rider.com, or earthriderdotcom) with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

—

Main Photo – Santa – A child gives Santa a gift during the annual 24^th Marine Expeditionary Unit Christmas Party. Taken Dec. 8, 2010 at the Marston Pavilion, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/USMC-101208-M-8527P-045.jpg/640px-USMC-101208-M-8527P-045.jpg

Photo – Santa – letter from Shona’s daughter. Dec. 2012

Photo – Santa greets children – When Jolly Old Saint Nick is busy, his helpers step in. In Singapore, Chief Warrant Officer Marc Lefebvre dressed as Santa and greeted children at Singapore’s Child at Street 11 Care Center. Here, Sailors and Marines from the USS Makin Island (LHD8) give gifts to children as part of a community service project. (Dec. 22, 2011)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/US_Navy_111222-N-DX615-057_Chief_Warrant_Officer_Marc_Lefebvre%2C_dressed_as_Santa_Claus%2C_greets_children_at_Singapore%27s_Child_at_Street_11_care_cent.jpg/640px-US_Navy_111222-N-DX615-057_Chief_Warrant_Officer_Marc_Lefebvre%2C_dressed_as_Santa_Claus%2C_greets_children_at_Singapore%27s_Child_at_Street_11_care_cent.jpg

earthriderdotcom

Down the corridors of my mind: Stories of travel, family and life

Category Archives: Movies

MacGuffins and Red Herrings

Ruthless People

Jurassic Park

A Reel-Life Disaster Film

Money and Madness

A Devine Bit o’ Blarney

Rear Window

Stand By Me

Another Time, Another Place

Listening for Santa’s Sleigh Bells

Follow “earthriderdotcom”

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Follow “earthriderdotcom”