Taken (Partial)

DVD Front Cover

I started watching this DVD (movie) last night. "Taken" has been on my list for a while but I don't remember where I first heard about it. My impression was that it was a good conspiracy type thriller (ala Harrison Ford's 1988 movie, "Frantic").

The short plot description on the back of the DVD box is: "Liam Neeson is an unstoppable force in this action-packed international thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. When his estranged teenage daughter is kidnapped in Paris, he sets out to dfind her at any cost. Relying on his special skills, the former spy tracks down the ruthless gang that abducted her and launches a one-man war to bring them to justice and rescue his daughter."

I had to turn it off after the first half hour because it was too personal for me, as it reminded me of my own situation with my son. Liam Neeson plays a divorced father who moves close to his ex-wife so he can be more involved in his child's life. However, the former wife despises him and frequently sabotages his attempts to have a relationship with his daughter. The mother enlists the daughter to lie and trick the father into giving permission for the daughter to go to Paris. The father knows that it is dangerous for a teenager (especially a girl) to be traveling abroad without adult supervision. As he feared, the daughter almost immediately gets into trouble.

I'm going to try to continue the movie tonight. I'm hoping that the rest of movie will be more of the action thriller aspect. Don't know how it will end (I suspect the father will rescue the daughter but who knows? Plus I don't know what part the ex-wife will play in the remainder of the film.).

Interestingly, two more sequels were made after the original film. As usual, I borrowed this from the library. I will have to do a follow-up post to report on my thoughts after finishing the movie. The DVD has two versions: the original theatrical version plus an Extended (unrated) version. Right now, I am watching the regular theatrical version.

I'm kind of sad today because usually I go with my son to the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Milford but since I have not heard from him in over six months I could not bear to go alone.

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Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taken_(film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frantic_(film)
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2014/03/st-patricks-day-parade.html
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Written Saturday 12 March 2016.

Danger Man

I borrowed these from the library and have been watching them the past couple weeks.

Each Danger Man episode is about an hour and stars Patrick McGoohan who later went on to star in the cult TV series, The Prisoner during the late 1960s.

Our library doesn't have the entire series; just 4 volumes. However, I believe other nearby libraries have more episodes. So I think I can get via inter-library loans.

These are fairly intense episodes, so I am taking a break for now. They are also very 1960s British. Because these discs do not have closed captions or subtitles, I have to really concentrate while watching so that I can catch all the dialogue (which is usually pretty important).

If you notice the pictures (above), the covers actually say "Secret Agent aka Danger Man." When Danger Man was broadcast in the USA, they changed the title to "Secret Agent" and switched the theme song to "Secret Agent Man" by Johnny Rivers (which became a huge hit in 1966).

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Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_Man

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_McGoohan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner

http://danger-man.co.uk/index.asp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Agent_Man_(song)

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Written Saturday 12 March 2016.

A Historic Jesus?

Letter from Fr. Hattie received via email Thursday 3 March 2016.

In Father's February 2nd letter he wrote that he was sending me a book. The book arrived a short time later and turned out to be Rediscover Jesus.  When it arrived, I emailed Father to let him know the book had been delivered. Knowing that Father doesn't really do email, I noted that I would send him a real letter and expound on my plans for reading the book. I started reading the book as promised on the first day of Lent but didn't get around to writing a letter until about day 10ish. The letter that Fr. Hattie sent (here-see above) is largely in reply to the comments I had sent (summarized in my post about the book.

As usual, I have added a bit of color to Father's letter (see above) in order to recapture the flavor of the Aerograms he used to send when he was in Africa (and before that, India). Since some people might have difficulty reading Father's manual typewriter text, I have transcribed it below. I have taken the liberty of deciphering some of the unique imprints that can result from using a typewriter. If you think my transcription is in error, please let me know.

My Fr. Hattie page contains a list of letters I have received and transcribed over the past few years. It also contains information on how you can contact Father Hattie as well as donate to help support his orphans in Nsumba, Uganda.

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My dear Rick:           Peace of Christ!

     To begin with, let me thank you most sincerely for your kind and generous Gift of $$.$$, an amount not to be sneezed at. You've been a loyal and generous friend.

     Please pardon me...but I had to have a hearty laugh when you wrote that you thought that you were an agnostic & didn't believe in the historical Jesus. If he didn't exist in fact, all the world's most famous atheists & agnostics would have had a field day writing books to prove it. Secondly, you wouldn't even be writing to me about the matter, you would NEVER go to Mass or make the sign of the Cross or pray, read about it or write to me about it. Who founded the Church? Certainly it is not mentioned in the OT and is clearly stated in the NT. You'd say to yourself, ' To hell with it all' and forget about it. But, you are not an agnostic. So, keep on writing & maybe you'll become convinced.

    Yes, I knew Fr. Walter Ciszek,* for he was a member of our Chicago {Province}(lived in NY on his return). I read 'With God in Russia' many yrs ago. It's superb. Just now, 1 of our retired Jesuits, his former Provincial is writing his full life. He is now deceased but, after his life, I wouldn't want to be the 1 to tell him that Jesus was ahistorical.**  Again, if Xt *** were not historical, what fools are thousands of Saints and Doctors of the Church (extremely brilliant men) must have been! ! !

    Keep up the good work you are doing and continue your search.

    You and the Clan continue to have a super-special remembrance in my Masses & prayers. Keep smiling & spreading God's love, joy and peace in every corner of West Hartford.

    P.S. If Jesus were not historical, of what use would it be to be good. If everyone were agnostic, the world would be a real hell.

Tons of love & gratitude,

Fr. Gene, S.J.

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* My nephew Nick wrote to me about a favorite book written by Fr. Ciszek, "He Leadeth Me"' "With God in Russia" was his first book, written shortly after he returned from spending decades in Russia.
** An alternate to "was ahistorical" might be "wasn't historical."
*** "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός which comes into English as "Christ."
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Links:
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2016/02/a-gift-book.html
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2016/02/book-rediscover-jesus.html
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2016/02/book-rediscover-jesus.html
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/p/letters-from-fr-hattie.html
http://www.ciszek.org/index.html
http://www.ciszek.org/HeLeadethMe.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi_(letter)
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Written Sunday 6 March 2016.