DON’T LEAVE ME THIS WAY: What famous novel ends with these lines? “I do not admit that Gopher Prairie is greater or more generous than Europe! I do not admit that dish-washing is enough to satisfy all women! I may not have fought the good fight, but I have kept the faith.” “Sure. You bet… Continue reading Trivia Question for November 5
Author: Jay Ruud
Movie Review: St. Vincent by Theodore Melfi
[av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Tennyson-180×180.jpg’ attachment=’77’ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] RUUD RATING St. Vincent 3 TENNYSONS [/av_image] “It is what it is,” a bank clerk tells Vincent McKenna (Bill Murray) early in Theodore Melfi’s new film St. Vincent. Vincent, who has been trying to get some kind of relief from the bank because… Continue reading Movie Review: St. Vincent by Theodore Melfi
Poetry With Dogs -Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”
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Trivia Question for October 29
DON’T START WITH ME: What famous literary text begins with this sentence, and who wrote it? To write the Life of him who excelled all mankind in writing the lives of others, and who, whether we consider his extraordinary endowments, or his various works, has heen equalled by few in any age, is an arduous,… Continue reading Trivia Question for October 29
Movie Review: Fury by David Ayer
[av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Tennyson-180×180.jpg’ attachment=’77’ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] RUUD RATING Fury 3 TENNYSONS [/av_image] “Ideals are peaceful. History is violent,” the war-hardened Sergeant Don “Wardaddy” Collier (Brad Pitt) tells his tank crew’s young untested new forward gunner Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman, 3:10 to Yuma) early in David Ayer’s new devastatingly brutal… Continue reading Movie Review: Fury by David Ayer
Lord Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty”
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Trivia Question for October 22
The oldest ever winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature was born on this date in 1919. Who was it? [av_button label=’ Use The Comment Form Below To Submit You Answer’ link=’http://jayruud.com/contest-question-for-october-22/’ link_target=” color=’theme-color’ custom_bg=’#444444′ custom_font=’#ffffff’ size=’large’ position=’center’ icon_select=’yes’ icon=’ue83b’ font=’entypo-fontello’]
Movie Review: Gone Girl by David Fincher
[av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Tennyson-180×180.jpg’ attachment=’77’ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] RUUD RATING Gone Girl 3 TENNYSONS [/av_image] Gone Girl, David Fincher’s dramatization of the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn (who adapted her book for the film’s screenplay) opened on October 3, so this review is coming late to the party. But as might… Continue reading Movie Review: Gone Girl by David Fincher
Contest Question for October 15
Today is the birthday of P.G. Wodehouse, famous for writing nearly 100 volumes of comic fiction. Wodehouse is best known for his novels featuring Bertie Wooster and his butler Jeeves. But does anyone out there know Wodehouse’s other best-known series of comic novels? Trivia bragging rights for the day if you can name the country… Continue reading Contest Question for October 15
Movie Review: The Judge by David Dobkin
[av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Susanns.jpg’ attachment=’78’ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] RUUD RATING Gone With The Wind 2 JACQUELINE SUSANNS [/av_image] As of the writing of this column (Saturday, October 11, after having seen The Judge at our local theater), the Rotten Tomatoes rating of this film was at 47%. In contrast, the percentage… Continue reading Movie Review: The Judge by David Dobkin