Ask Roger Anything Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

Top/Favorite MOVIES

not boring

Drew from California asked:

Have you made your Top/Favorite MOVIES (so far in your life) list? If so, I’d love to get some good recommendations, as I feel rather “movie-watching deficient” in my lifetime. I do like Rom-Coms and intelligent conversations. Good adventure and sometimes good suspense are also fun to watch.

I find this extraordinarily difficult. For instance, I really liked EEAAO (Everything Everywhere All at Once). But will it stand up to the test of time? I dunno. I remember liking ALTERED STATES (1980) and Z, but they have faded from memory.

Likewise, I was a fan of Jules and Jim (Jules et Jim) (1962), a French film I saw in Binghamton in the late 1960s in a museum theater. It was my favorite foreign film, but I saw a lot of movies, such as Wild Strawberries, that I do not remember well.

That said, I tend to remember and enjoy movies I see in the cinema more than the ones I’ve seen on TV. Seeing a movie again is almost always revelatory. For instance, seeing The Wizard of Oz in 2022 on the big screen was way better than watching it several times on TV.

I like from coms. Is Groundhog Day a rom-com? You could try Love Actually. I like lots of documentaries, but only one of them made this list.

Here’s a list; THE list may never exist.

Casablanca (1942) – saw outdoors at a screening in the late 1970s near Rochester, NY. A great film

Gaslight (1944), which I wrote about, and the word, here.

Rear Window (1954) – I saw it at the Spectrum Theatre in the 1980s. Most excellent and full of suspense.

12 Angry Men (1957) – I wrote about it here

Always on the list

West Side Story (1961) –Some of my favorite music is here. It’s not a great movie – it takes too long to get going, but it was the first grown-up movie I saw.

101 Dalmatians (1961). Possibly the first movie I ever saw in a theater. The lead male adult, Roger, gets to sing “Cruella DeVille.”

The Sound of Music (1965) —My mother had the soundtrack on LP, but I never saw it until the 21st century. It is far better than I expected.

Le Roi de cœur (King of Hearts – 1966) – it played approximately annually at a movie theater in New Paltz, where I went to college.

The Night They Raided Minsky’s (1968)- there is a story here.

Cabaret (1972) – I saw it when it first came out, then a half-century later, both in theaters. It holds up.

Young Frankenstein (1974) – Possibly the funniest movie I ever saw. I had an aisle seat, and I laughed so hard at one point that I was literally rolling in the aisle.

Annie Hall (1977) – I haven’t seen it this century, but I wrote about it in 2007 here.

Being There (1979) – I spent a lot of time defending this film from people who thought it was “boring” and that “nothing happens.”

Airplane! (1980) – It has a character named Roger, played by Kareen Addul-Jabbar. Oh, and other stuff, including the script based on an existing dramatic film.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)? Well, of course. This was a remarkable technological feat and features a character named Roger.

Baseball

Field of Dreams (1989): I opted for this Kevin Costner baseball film rather than the fine Bull Durham (1988) because it’s sappier, and I totally buy into it.

Do the Right Thing (1989) – probably the first Spike Lee movie I saw.

Groundhog Day (1993) was one of the first items I owned on VHS. It features JEOPARDY! to see annually.

THE IRON GIANT (1999) – I LOVE THIS animated MOVIE

Being John Malkovich (1999) – surreal

Chicago (2002). An old-fashioned musical

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) is one of the few movies I have seen at home on the list.

The Incredibles (2004): My favorite Pixar film, which I can tell, because it was later on NBC, with all those damn commercials, and I still enjoyed it.

INSIDE OUT (2015) – an emotionally honest film

13th (2016). Documentary about the 13TH Amendment

Hidden Figures (2016) – I wrote about it here

Black Panther (2018) – I wrote about it here

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) – I mention this here

I am frequently reminded of a line from the 1991 film Grand Canyon, in which the Steve Martin character says: “That’s part of your problem: you haven’t seen enough movies. All of life’s riddles are answered in the movies.” I’m convinced there is some truth to that.

Ask Roger Anything sans pumpkin pie

Dickinson cultivar

From Snopes: “On 23 September 2016, Facebook users began sharing an article which claimed that the pumpkin typically used in pumpkin pie is in fact a multi-squash blend containing little to no pumpkin.” I remember reading about it at some point and shrugging.

As it turns out, the truth is a bit more nuanced. “According to botanists, however, asserting a clear distinction between ‘pumpkin’ and ‘squash’ is difficult because there is no strict botanical definition for pumpkins. Semantically, pumpkins are a type of squash, and the Dickinson cultivar is listed as a pumpkin.”

The pumpkin can you get from a can from Libby’s and other manufacturers is a blend of squash and pumpkin. It’s not the pretty pumpkins you expect to see on porches at Halloween, but they’re arguably more edible.

The topic is no big deal to me because I’m not a big fan of pumpkin, specifically pumpkin pies, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffins, and the like. In the 1990s, I baked two or three pumpkin pies for some fundraising events at the cajoling of my late friend Darby. But my favorite pies to eat tend to be apple pie or maybe a blueberry pie.

General Mills

Since I don’t drink coffee, I don’t drink a pumpkin spice latte. I don’t eat Pumpkin Spice Cheerios, available only for a limited time; I don’t need dessert for breakfast. I like regular Cheerios, and I have eaten Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast, which negates my point about dessert for breakfast.

What I really like, though, is when you Ask Roger Anything. You may ask Roger about his taste in pies, cakes, music, movies, or politics; it doesn’t matter as long as it doesn’t involve pumpkin spice.

I would love you to ask in the next few days, and I will be sure to reply in the next three or four weeks. As always, I promise to be as honest as I can be. It’s fun to hear what you want me to talk about. When you come up with very clever questions, a change of perspective is always helpful.

As usual, you may leave your questions in the blog’s comments section or my Facebook page (Roger Owen Green); look for the duck.

Ask Roger Anything, especially this

blogging on a pizza

Yeah, I’m asking you to Ask Roger Anything because I do. But I’m seeking, especially this particular wrinkle. I would like you to list the names of bands or solo musicians, as many as you like. And I must name the ONE or maybe two or three favorite songs from the artist or group, and why.

I hope that your choices include folks from whom I know more than one song. Don’t ask me about Dexys Midnight Runners because I don’t know any other tunes, though I have heard some in the past.

It’s interesting to me that music, most of which I have heard before, is now more likely to make me emotional. Sometimes, it’s sadness but more often, it’s joy. One example is the end section of Surf’s Up by the Beach Boys, originally scheduled for the Smile album, but which appeared at the end of the Surf’s Up album.

Books

I linked to a meme on Facebook. “Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries: ‘It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones…

“‘If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the ‘medicine closet’ and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That’s why you should always have a nutrition choice!'”

So you could make me cut my 2,000 or 3,000 books – I didn’t count them – down to (ouch!) 100. What would I keep? You could ask that.

Or whatever

There was an item on Quora recently. “Can you answer this question: ‘Can you explain the process of blogging on a pizza?'” I was tempted to respond that I tend to blog on media slightly more permanent than a pizza, but I didn’t know how helpful that would be.

But you can ask anything else as well. I will answer, more or less truthfully, in the next month. Please make your requests in the comments section of this post, email me at rogerogreen (AT) Gmail (DOT) com, or contact me on Facebook. Heck, I’m still on Twitter as ersie, more out of inertia. (This is why I don’t call it whatever.) Always look for the duck.

The spring equinox is March 19?

Ask Roger Anything

To my surprise, this year in the Northern Hemisphere, the spring equinox is March 19 at 11:06 p.m. EDT. “If you thought that the spring equinox only ever occurred on March 21, you may be dating yourself. The civil calendar date of the equinox continues to shift every year.”

The wonderful website Time and Date notes: “The March equinox can happen on March 19, 20, or 21. The last time the March equinox was on March 21 (in UTC) was in 2007. It will happen again in 2101.” That last point also surprised me.

“Now, the really important question. Q: Does Spring Begin on March 1 or on the Equinox? A: Well, both. The answer depends on your definition of ‘spring.’ Both dates are accurate; they’re just from different perspectives. We’ll explain …

“Astronomically speaking, the first day of spring is marked by the spring equinox, which falls on March 19, 20, or 21 every year. The equinox happens at the exact moment worldwide, although our clock times reflect a different time zone. And, as mentioned above, this date only signals spring’s beginning in the Northern Hemisphere; it announces fall’s arrival in the Southern Hemisphere…

“Meteorologically speaking, the official first day of spring is March 1 (and the last is May 31). Weather scientists divide the year into quarters to make it easier to compare seasonal and monthly statistics from one year to the next. The meteorological seasons are based on annual temperature cycles rather than on the position of Earth in relation to the Sun, and they more closely follow the Gregorian calendar. Using the dates of the astronomical equinoxes and solstices for the seasons would present a statistical problem, as these dates can vary slightly each year.”

So the Meteorological version is march time, while the Astronomical version is more like jazz.

Ask Roger Anything

So now that I’ve shared with you the vagueries of the vernal equinox, I was hoping you would share with me some questions that you have always wanted to know. This is the exercise in which you ask me… the technical term is stuff. I will find some retired librarian to answer them.

You may ask anything your heart wants to know. I am required, per the retired librarians’ creed, to reply as well as I can in the next month or so.

You may make your requests in the comments section of this post, email me at rogerogreen (AT) Gmail (DOT) com, or contact me on Facebook. Always look for the duck. Yes, THAT duck.

One last thing: I’ve never dated myself. I believe that others are more interested to me.

Bringing holiday cheer: ARA

…purpose (nia), creativity (kuumba), and faith (imani)

This is the season of bringing holiday cheer. Hanukkah has already come and gone. But Festivus is coming up on December 23. I’m not sure we need the opportunity for the “airing of grievances,” as a fair amount of that has been going on of late. An apology often follows it.

Kwanzaa is coming up, starting on December 26. Each of the seven days of the celebration is dedicated to one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa: unity (umoja).” The idea appeals to me. This story about “teenagers help[ing] seniors learn how to use technology — and form friendships along the way” warms my heart. I saw a similar story recently about teens visiting seniors, and playing chess, Scrabble, and dominoes with them.

Also, “self-determination (kujichagulia), collective responsibility (ujima)” – what a grand idea! – “cooperative economics (ujamaa), purpose (nia), creativity (kuumba), and faith (imani).”

In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice is the 21st or the 22nd, depending on the time zone.

Then there’s another event coming up – what is it again? I have HEARD there’s a “war” against it, but I’m just not seeing it. A war against books, against certain ethnic groups, but… Christmas?

Ask Roger Anything

And whether there is such a conflagration, there’s one sure remedy: Ask Roger Anything. You can ask him about said wars, purpose, creativity, faith, and/or grievances. It would make a lovely holiday gift and won’t cost you a dime. Wotta deal!

And you can also ask Arthur anything. In fact, you can ask us the same questions. However, if you ask us how it is living in New Zealand, his answers will probably be more useful since I’ve never been there.

Whatever you ask, I promise to answer more or less honestly and within the next month or so. Please put your requests in the comments section of this post, email me at rogerogreen (AT) Gmail (DOT) com, or contact me on Facebook. As always, look for the duck.