When The Cinnamon Girl and I travel, we like to download and watch movies that take place in the cities we’re going to visit. Most cities have movies set in them or, at least, most cities to which we travel do.
This week, I was in Portland, OR, for a meeting of some 60 principals from Jesuit high schools across the country and from Canada. It was a great gathering of great folks. Though I begged faithful readers for suggestions for films (and I did arbitrarily decide this is a movie experience, so I took watching the buzzy Portlandia off the table), I received none and had to resort to an internet search.
There were about 10 Portland based movies that arose, one of which I was happy to revisit though I was surprised I didn’t know the film was, in fact, set in Portland. As I didn’t really want to watch any of the others, I decided to go with the movie adaptation of a book I had just completed.
In Flight Entertainment Denver to Portland: Mr. Holland’s Opus
photo from imdb.com.
I’ve seen this movie quite a few times and never knew it was set in Portland. Upon careful viewing, I noted that the city is mentioned at least twice! I am sure the folks I was sitting next to were wondering why I was crying so many times… I am a sucker for this kind of bald sentimentality, I admit it. This one needs a full “retro” review in the near future.
In Flight Entertainment Portland to Denver: The World According to Garp
photo from imdb.com.
Having recently completed re-reading John Irving’s first big hit, I decided I would watch the film. I hadn’t seen it in years and, unfortunately, I discovered the absence of the film from my life hadn’t made me any fonder of it. Though the performances are very good, the movie simply is not. And I must admit that it was a little heartbreaking to see Robin Williams as a vital young man given the events of the year.
And There Came a Day... 