Tuesday I had lunch at Mad Greek Deli. It is a sports bar. It's on E Burnside. There is street parking in the neighborhood behind it. The deli is painted blue on the outside with some greek characters. Inside it is a little dark. There is a counter where you can order. There is some seating to the right with picnic tables. There is also the bar section in the back corner. There are soccer scarves hanging from pretty much every available space on the ceiling. The bar section has a Portland Timbers theme, including a mural on one wall. There are some Greek touches here and there. There is also the lamp from A Christmas Story behind the bar. It was very quiet on a Tuesday afternoon. To get table service you had to sit in the bar section. I got moussaka. It is layers of eggplant and ground beef. It is topped with a thin layer of mashed potatoes. It also came with some buttered bread. It was good. Nice and warm on a cold day. It was hard to cut the eggplant with just a fork, but that's my bad for not asking for a knife. The service was very good. I don't normally go to bars. I was more drawn to the food. I would go again, but during the day like I did this time. I do not want to be there on a game day. Or at night.
Monday: Bathing Beauty (1944)
Steve is a songwriter. He is about to marry his fiance, Caroline, when a woman set up by his band leader claims to be his wife. Caroline is very upset and runs away. She goes back to work at a women's only college. Steve follows her to try to get her back. He is able to use a legal loophole and enroll at the school. Steve is determined to win her back. I thought this movie was alright. Caroline is played by Ester Williams. So of course Caroline is also a synchronized swimmer and performs some routines. It was silly of Caroline to just run off after the woman said she was married to Steve. She didn't stick around to see if it was true. She just believed it without any proof.
Tuesday: In the Cool of the Day (1963)
Murray reconnects with his friend Sam. They are both married. Murray's wife suffered in an accident and now makes sure Murray suffers. Sam's wife, Christine, is chronically ill and has temporarily left him. Murray ends up seeing her by chance when visiting an old friend. They start to talk. Soon they start an affair through letters. The two couples plan a trip to Greece. When Sam can't come it changes the trip. Murray's wife in uninterested in everything and he is often left alone with Christine. This allows them to grow closer. Their happiness doesn't last long. This movie was alright.
Wednesday: The China Syndrome (1979)
A puff piece news reporter, Kimberly, is sent to do a piece on alternative energy. She goes to a nuclear power plant. While there they witness an accident. The nuclear power plant company claims it was nothing. Kimberly's camera man was shooting the whole time. From the footage an expert says it was very serious. It could have been very dangerous to everyone in the surrounding area. Both the company and her station try to stop her from releasing this story. Kimberly continues to investigate. This plant could be headed for disaster. This movie was better then I thought it was going to be, but still not great. It isn't has hard to watch as the TV show Chernobyl. Mostly because it doesn't get that far. There isn't an explosion like that. But after seeing that show it does make this movie more intense. You know what could happen. How horrible it could be.
Friday: Sing 2 (2021)
Buster Moon and his theater group want to take their show to Redshore City. After being deemed not good enough they have to sneak into Mr. Crystal's theater to audition. Mr. Crystal gives them the job after Buster claims to know the recluse rock legend Clay Calloway. Buster has to put the show together and somehow convince Clay to do the show. All the while trying to stay in Mr. Crystal's good graces and not get kicked out of the city. This movie was cute. Redshore City is clearly Las Vegas. There was no one in the auditorium with me. Which has never happened before. It was kinda nice, but also a little creepy.
Saturday: Double Feature- River's Edge (1986) and Dune (2021)
River's Edge is based on a true story. A high school student nicknamed John kills a fellow classmate. He comes goes to school and tells his friends what he did. They don't believe him so he shows them where he left the body. Later he shows others. The teens do nothing. Later one of them finally goes to the police. I thought this movie was ok. The acting wasn't great. I heard about this movie on the My Favorite Murder podcast where they talked about the murder. How the killer almost seemed like he wanted to get caught. Didn't care about trying to hide what he did. And how the other teens seemed unaffected by it.
Dune is about a young man named Paul. He is the son of a Duke. There is a planet covered in spice topped sand. The spice is very valuable. The native people have long suffered under the rein of Harkonnen, a greedy man who was destroying the planet to get rich. He was kicked off the planet, along with his troops. Paul's father comes to take over. He wants to work with the native people. He wants the spice but only in a way that is not harmful to the planet of native people. Paul's mother has special abilities that she has passed down to Paul. Paul also sees the future in his dreams. He keeps seeing one of the native woman. Paul knows he has to find her. There is also a prophecy of a man that has special abilities who will take over the planets and bring peace. Paul might be that man. Once on the spice planet things go wrong. Paul and his mother must flee into the desert. This movie is good. It is beautifully done. The sets and cinematography are amazing. It is confusing. They also leave it in a place where the story hasn't ended. They are planning another movie (maybe two). The only problem with that is if that second movie doesn't get made then this movie will forever have ended in a weird place.
Sunday: The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)
Bombolini is a wine maker in a small Italian village. After fascism falls the town celebrates. By a strange turn of events Bombolini becomes mayor. He is known to be a drunk clown. Soon the town learns that they will be occupied by Germans. They will come for the wine. Wine making is the business of the whole village. Without their wine they will be ruined. There are over one million bottles. With the help of a ex fascist soldier Bombolini comes up with a plan to hide the wine from the Germans. They are able to pull it off. This is a good movie. It is based on a true story. I thought it was going to be in Italian, but it is in English.
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