Month: November 2024

Here are some reviews to share.

“Return of the King: The Fall & Rise of Elvis Presley.”  This new Netflix documentary covers all that set up Elvis’ legendary 1968 comeback TV Special.  Great remembrances from Springsteen, Robbie Robertson, Billy Corgan, Conan O’Brien and others frame this story.  Elvis’ ex-wife Priscilla also offers insight too but looks absolutely plastic with all the facial reconstructs she’s had.  Still, the best part of this special is the footage from that ’68 special.  Also, this documentary was created and produced by the great but unheralded singer-songwriter John Eddie who is pals with Priscilla and also knew her daughter, the late Lisa Marie.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s recent visit to the Howard Stern Show was excellent.   Search on You Tube and catch great talks about Bruce’s songs along with some fine in-studio jams.  My favorite being their take on “Glory Days.”

Bruce and the E Street Band tear it up with Howard Stern.

Movies to see-

“Heretic”-One of the most intelligent films I saw this year.  Great script and Hugh Grant is beyond creepy as a spiritual seeker as he welcomes two young Mormon women into his house to share their message of religious hope.  Speaking of Grant’s home, it is so creepy it makes Buffalo Bill’s place in “Silence of the Lambs” look like “Romper Room.”  And you’ll never listen to the Hollies’ “The Air That  I Breathe” the same way again!

“Heretic” is tense and a fun ride through a smart spiritual and psychological plot.

I gave a solid ‘B’ to the tense Vatican offering “Conclave.” Great cast, script and plot changes that are totally unexpected. Look for Ralph Fiennes to get an Oscar nomination and the film itself should get a nomination too.

“Conclave” is Oscar worthy with an incredible ending.

On Netflix, “Woman of the Hour” was skin crawling crazy in a fun way.  Anna Kendrick directed and stars in this story about the real life “Dating Game Killer.”  I’ve watched this one twice!

Based on a true story of the so called ‘Dating Game Killer’, this one is more than worth your time.

Also on Netflix, I stumbled upon the new documentary on Martha Stewart.  I never gave the famed home making maven much thought but her story is really fascinating.  From her childhood to her rise, fall and return to the stratosphere, Martha has lived quite a life and she ain’t done yet.

Everything you didn’t know about Martha Stewart is shown in this documentary.

On Demand, I graded the brand new “Cellar Door” movie a “B+” for its intriguing story about a couple who moves into a dream house with one strange caveat that brings about conflict and mystery.

This trailer sets up what happens in The Cellar Door” and it’s a strange romp in a dream house.

New on HBO is the series “It’s Florida, Man” which shows us crazy true stories from that nutty state.  These tales are re-enacted but you do meet the real life men and women involved in stories about losing limbs by humans & animals. There’s also a weird tale about mermaids and witches and a weird way to burn down a mobile home.

Ever hear of ‘Floridiots’? You’ll find some in this limited HBO series.

Another offering on HBO is the tense docuseries “Breath of Fire” which centers on a Yoga cult and the lives of its followers influenced by a dynamic and nefarious leader.

A woman with no direction in her life joins a Yoga cult and eventually takes things over. A true story that almost seems like make believe.

Come this weekend there are two big films opening in theaters, “Wicked” and “Gladiator 2” but I have no interest in either. I never saw the “Wicked” play and I’m doubting director Ridley Scott can equal what he did with Russell Crowe in the original “Gladiator.”

Finally, a couple weeks ago WGN Morning News co-host Robin Baumgarten celebrated a birthday and yes, Al Flash and I worked up a song to mark the occasion.  Channel 9 didn’t air this one (they had other Robin bits to show) so we’ll pocket this one until next year.

NEXT BLOG- A list of “Thank-yous.”  

This week marks ten years since my only sibling, my loving sister Maryanne O’brien Nagy passed away.  For several years she dealt with a wicked auto-immune affliction called Wegener’s Disease of which there is no cure.  Anytime I’d mention Wegener’s to a medical professional they would always wince and give me that “I’m so sorry, that’s a rough diagnosis” look.  Years before, Maryanne was a nurse and she knew what the inevitable outcome of her kidney disease would be. Yet, she lived strong and determined to see both of her children Doreen (Dei) and Michael get far enough along in their lives to know they were doing well.  My sister made it to that goal.

Back in 1995. Back row L-R husband Jack husband & me, middle row, our mom and Mary, front row daughter Dei and son Mike.

But I prefer to focus on how Maryanne lived in her 57 and a half years. Mary as we all knew her, was a product of my mother’s first marriage and I was the only offspring of my mom and dad.  In practical terms, Mary was my half-sister.  But in truth she was my full 100% sister and my first best friend growing up. My closest ally and confidant. My parents would tell me how as I learned to talk, I’d call her “Mee-ann” and how excited I’d get when she came home from Ogden Elementary school in La Grange where we lived before moving to Elmhurst in 1966.

Through 6^th grade, Mary was a very athletic Tom boy and my first baseball instructor and swim lesson buddy too.  Then with physical maturing and the lightening of her brown hair to blonde, my sister became a junior high school cutie with many boys wanting to go steady and date her.  This continued into high school where she worked part time at Elmhurst Hospital’s dietary department, bringing food trays up to patients.

It was at this job where Mary decided she wanted to become a registered nurse. However, her idiot guidance counselor at York High School (Roy Sundquist) told Mary to forget that plan because her science class grades were only average.  Well in January of 1975, Mary went on to graduate York a semester early and started her course work at the College of Du Page.  Come May of 1978 (less than 3 ½ years later, we attended her nurse’s graduation ceremony.  So, take that Mr. Sundquist!

Mary had several different nursing jobs working at Elmhurst Hospital, Lutheran General in Park Ridge and Good Samaritan in Downers Grove where she met a patient named Gary O’Brien was in for a cancer remission check-up.   Mary and Gary fell in love and married in the summer of 1982.  They bought a sweet home in Sycamore which was closer to where they both worked at that time.  Sadly, Gary’s cancer returned in early 1984 and he died that March.  Maryanne O’Brien, my dear sister was a widow at age 26. 

Her faith in God’s will and support from family and friends sustained Mary and two years later she met Jack Nagy and they wed in December of 1987.  By March of 1990, they had their two children and after a brief move to New Mexico; the young parents settled closer to Illinois by buying a warm ranch house in Janesville, Wisconsin.  Jack was a mailman, supporting the family on his income and Mary became a full time stay at home mom.  She adored her kids and did anything and everything to raise them right.  After her illness took hold, my sister still did whatever she could for Dei and Mike and Jack picked up all that she could not do.  My sister could not have picked a more dedicated husband and father than Jack.  He loved her to the very end and I’ll always love him for that.

 Here are some more highlights from the sister-brother relationship we had back in the day.

**Taking me and my friends to our first ever concert as we saw Elton John rock the  Chicago Stadium in 1976.  She and I went on to see Elton live three more times after that, the last time in 1984 when we sat 5 rows away from E.J. What a night that was!

**Buying cigars for me and my friends for our all-night poker games and teaching us how to drink ‘Slow Screws’ which were a mixture of sloe gin and orange juice.

**Convincing me to fess up to my parents about my severely burnt leg after a corn stalk fire got out of control. I had third degree burns and as a nursing student, she worried about me getting a bad infection. A trip to the E.R. quickly took place.

**There was the time a pal of mine called at midnight in need of bail money after being arrested for underage drinking.  Maryanne ponied up the cash and drove me over to the Elmhurst police station so we could spring him.

**The many trips she took me and friends to Lake Geneva to play pinball at the Gameland arcade and to have other fun up in America’s Dairyland.

**Mary taught me about all the characters on the ABC-TV soap operas to the point that like her, I was hooked on “Ryan’s Hope”, “All My Children”, “One Life to Live” and “General Hospital.”

**The first car I ever bought was Mary’s brown 1980 Toyota Celica as she opted to buy a new 1984 Celica. 

**There’s a million more memories of wonderful Christmases, birthdays and other times when we shared so many laughs and loves and cherished happenings.

**And I cannot forget Mary’s passion for dogs and cats since she was eight years old.  Her biggest love being for Boston Terriers.  Over the years Mary rescued four of those little darlings, Casey, Rosie, Murphy and Sammy Sosa.  She passed that love on to her daughter Dei who is a dedicated dog mom to Ruby.

Like I did for both my father and mother, I delivered the eulogy for Maryanne’s memorial service.  It was a tough one to get through but I managed to do so by recalling all of the strength and determination and love my sister had throughout her life.

I’ll always miss my ‘Mee-ann’ but I’m also grateful for all she brought to my life and those lucky enough to know her.

Rest in Peace my dear sister.

NEXT BLOG– Reviews and Previews.