The Big Chill

The Big Chill
Lawrence Kasdan’s 1983 big-budget variation on John Sayles’s The Return of the Secaucus Seven finds a cluster of old college radicals–who have since gone on to sundry professions and various degrees of materialism–reuniting over the death of a friend. Both playful and thoughtful, the film represents Kasdan (Body Heat) at his most astute. The attractive cast meshes perfectly into a group of characters for which a former closeness is out of synch with their current lives, yet their warmth is enviable and inviting. The script may be a bit too glib, with many one-liners, but it is still a perfectly designed story with telling irony and no little passion. –Tom Keogh

Customer Review: Good film after all these years
Tom Brokaw’s new book, “Boom!” mentions “The Big Chill” and somehow I’ve missed seeing it over the years. I was pleasantly surprised to see then-young actors Tom Berenger, Kevin Kline, Glenn Close and William Hurt (among others) come together for a strong ensemble performance. These thirty-somethings gather over a weekend of a sad event and manage to explore their current and past lives in a way that seems surprisingly relevant. I wouldn’t say “The Big Chill” is timeless but I could imagine a group of my own friends having some of the same conversations today.

If there’s not a whole lot of “action” in “The Big Chill” it makes up for it in insight. The soundtrack is a great addition but it is really the fine acting that carries the film and it’s great to see so many up and coming stars. “The Big Chill” is worth a look.

Customer Review: A strong ensemble cast
Everyone in the cast does a good job in this film, particularly Kevin Kline and Glenn Close as the couple who host a group of old friends for several nights after the death of another friend. I had seen it years ago, then just again today and, though one might hear some whining now and then, it’s not irritating.

The only thing I find intrusive on occasion is the soundtrack, which has great songs but tends to interrupt the narrative instead of to advance it.

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Naturally Playful Sandbox
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Blomus 66852 Stainless steel planter 15.8 inch [Kitchen]
Stainless steel 15.8 inch
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Unbowed: A Memoir (Vintage)
In Unbowed, Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai recounts her extraordinary journey from her childhood in rural Kenya to the world stage. When Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977, she began a vital poor people’s environmental movement, focused on the empowerment of women, that soon spread across Africa. Persevering through run-ins with the Kenyan government and personal losses, and jailed and beaten on numerous occasions, Maathai continued to fight tirelessly to save Kenya’s forests and to restore democracy to her beloved country. Infused with her unique luminosity of spirit, Wangari Maathai’s remarkable story of courage, faith, and the power of persistence is destined to inspire generations to come.
Customer Review: Stunning story of hope and action
Maathai is the first African woman and the first environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize-in 2004. Masthai’s life is inspiring-from her humble beginnings as a child laborer on the plantation of a white English colonial farm with her family, to her early education in the primitive Ihithe primary school at age 8, to further education at St. Cecilia’s at the Mathari Catholic Mission, to college in the United States. She taught at the University in Kenya, and was active in the National Council of Women in Kenya (NCWK) for many years. Many failures are scattered throughout her life: she was divorced by her husband; she lost her job at the University when she tried to run for office, and she was arrested many times for her work in promoting democracy in Kenya. One of the projects she worked on was to stop the construction of a huge 60-story skyscraper in the middle of Uhuru Park in Nairobi; another was to obtain the release of over 50 men who had been imprisoned for agitating for a multi-party system. She held a hunger strike with their mothers, in Uhuru Park, and then they all retreated to a nearby Anglican cathedral to continue to protest after being routed from the park by armed police (Along with many others, Maathai was beaten and taken to hospital). Eventually the men were released. Maathai started the Green Belt Movement in 1977. In 2002 Kenya finally held free and democratic open elections and Maathai won a seat in the Parliament. See the Green Belt web site for extensive details of her grassroots tree-planting program. The act of planting a tree is helping women throughout Africa help the environment. The GBM has planted more than 40 million trees across Africa, resulting in reduced soil erosion has affecting the critical watersheds Everyone can make a difference. Just today I watched a report on the news about the devastating drought in the Southeast United States. Hard times are coming. We need to learn about climate change and what we can do to manage it. Armchair Interviews says: One woman helping other women and her country.
Customer Review: Extraordinary Women’s memoir
This memoir is an inspiring example of what one woman can do, bit by bit, and eventually have an internationally positive influence. The author’s story resonates with anyone who wants to make a difference in her/his own molecule of the world.

Whiskey Barrel, 16″ Vintage Iron
Double wall construction. Full depth for maximum soil capacity. Unbreakable and lightweight. Weather resistant. Easy to transplant and recyclable.