Grieving and Tears in Full House

I'm sure there must be personality types out there that don't make memory connections the way an ISFJ does. Lucky you.

Last week, I'm sitting down to a few episodes of Full House. I'm in the 7th season now, where Jesse and Becky have been married for a few years, all the girls in the household are growing up, and Joey still can't keep a girlfriend to save his life. Oh, and Danny's fiance just left him. Which sucks.

What I didn't expect was my last episode of the night, called The Last Dance. Jesse's grandfather, called papouli in Greek, comes all the way from Greece to visit the family. He's a kindly old codger with a heart of gold who teaches little Michelle how to do a traditional dance, and then shows the family how to make traditional Greek food. He's loving and passionate, and I loved watching Jesse interact with the grandfather he obviously adores so much.

Read More

Ruts and Routines - I Love Lucy: Vacation from Marriage (2.6)

It is finally time to write for something other than Jeff Goldblum I know you're all grieving, as am I, but it is time to move on. Sorry, Jeff!

And I figured there was no better way to move on than my post on I Love Lucy for the Favorite TV Show Episode Blogathon. Vacation from Marriage is one of my favorite episodes from the show, although if given my druthers, I could have  written about 20 different episodes and never run out of ideas. Still, I chose this one for a very particular reason.

I'm not married, and I find Vacation from Marriage to be particularly fascinating. Anything can become routine if we let it, and then we must even consider that not all routines are bad. You get into the routine of brushing your teeth twice a day, of jumping on the treadmill for an hour, or putting your books back tidily in the bookcase, of vacuuming the house when the clumps of hair actually start to show on the carpet. Routines are a part of life and they usually make life better because they bring a sense of order. Of course, I think this because I am an ISFJ who, in some cases, really loves routine. Not when it comes to jumping in the car and driving somewhere, then I'm a free spirit, but when it comes down to needing a basic routine every day, I love it.

Ruts, on the other hand, are bad. Can you tell the difference in the way the words sound? Routine has a positive lilt on the end compared with the harsh spitting t sound at the end of rut. You just know, whether you're in one or not, that ruts are not a good thing.  And that's where the Ricardos and Mertzes are in this episode . . . a big, fat rut as Lucy puts it.

Read More

Goldblum Fest: The Incomparable Detective Raines

Yes, Charity, suits and ties throughout the entire series and boy howdy, he knows how to wear them!

For all blog posts related to this Goldblum Fest, visit THIS page for a complete set of links, updated as posts are released!

I almost didn't bother watching this show. It is, after all, only 7 episodes long, having been canceled after the script was written for the 8th episode but never actually filmed. Another one of those amazing shows that died in the mid-2000s, possibly due to a writer's strike like with Moonlight or maybe just because the fan base wasn't large enough (stupid people).

Detective Michael Raines is one of those special, highly intuitive people. He's always been a little odd, talking to his homicide victims as he tries to solve their murders. The only difference now is that he sees them too. Recently traumatized by a personal loss, Raines struggles with the idea that he might be losing his mind, since he knows these are just hallucinations and not ghosts. Their knowledge is as limited as his own. These victims often give him flashes of insight that he, as himself, might possibly be missing in the case, and they often give him empathy, both for the victims themselves and sometimes even for the killers depending on the situation. Raines has a hard time dealing with his emotions and so these manifestations of his victims are a buffer that protect him from feeling too deeply about the case, allowing the victim to feel for him.

The first episode had me hooked in, oh, about five minutes. The scriptwriter really knew how to utilize Goldblum's unique knack for snappy dialogue, hands down, but it's the psychological side of the series that really grabbed me. The more I watched the series, the more I asked questions. Is Raines crazy? Why is his mind manifesting the victims into reality? Has he suffered a psychotic break without knowing it?

Read More

Goldblum Fest: From DKoren - Goldblum in "Starsky and Hutch"

For all blog posts related to this Goldblum Fest, visit THIS page for a complete set of links, updated as posts are released!

I have never seen this show, not even once, but if you're a Starsky and Hutch fan, I think you'll get a kick out of her fun review!

From DKoren - Jeff Goldblum in Starsky and Hutch

Originally I was going to write about his character in The Grand Budapest Hotel, cuz I'm a sucker for honest characters with integrity, who do the right thing regardless of risk and clear danger... but time slipped away from me.  I did, however, have time to re-watch a second season episode from one of my favorite television series, the 1970's television show, Starsky & Hutch, an ep called "Murder on Stage 17," which guest stars a ridiculously young Jeff Goldblum. How young?

This young!

~*~

Please visit DKoren's BLOG to read the entire post! It is well worth it!

Read More

Goldblum Fest: The Animated Jeff Goldblum in "Prince of Egypt"

For all blog posts related to this Goldblum Fest, visit THIS page for a complete set of links, updated as posts are released!

I love it when actors are not only capable, but actually skilled, at voicing characters for animated films. Most of my friends can attest to my love of animated films, some with trepidation and others with mild amusement. So when I realized that Goldlbum played a voice in one of my favorite animated films of all time, I was stoked! Do people use that word anymore? Probably not, but never mind! It's just kind of a shame he played a character that I really dislike. Yikes.

Goldblum played two animated characters that I am aware of: Aaron in The Prince of Egypt (yes, he's THAT annoying guy) and then he played Ajax in Zambezia (a character almost as equally hard to like as Aaron). I mean, come on, if he'd played the bad guy in either role, I probably would have loved him! As it is, he played the annoying guy . . . the self-righteous and judgmental guy in both films. What the heck is up with that? Oh, wait, maybe it's because he does tend to play the occasional self-righteous and judgmental person in live action films too. Hmm, there's a connection here someplace. Maybe it's . . . THE VOICE. Which I happen to love providing I can see the face that goes along with it.

Be that as it may, while Prince of Egypt it still as astoundingly awesome as ever, I was surprised to find that Zambezia is actually pretty cute too with a few good messages for its audience. Also, Zambezia reunites Jeff Goldblum with a costar from waaaaay back in the day . . . Leonard Nimoy. Even though I didn't care for Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Nimoy and Goldblum both played roles in it, and at least managed to garner my interest for their scenes, which were entirely too few. So it was fun hearing their voices together again, even though Nimoy has Goldblum beat hands down for dramatic emphasis.

I'm not going to go into Zambezia for the sake of space and I can't write about everything Goldblum ever filmed, but let's just say that if you enjoy animated movies like Rio, Madagascar, and Legend of the Guardians, that you'll probably find it fun.

Read More

Goldblum Fest: A Supernatural Effect in "Hideaway"

For all blog posts related to this Goldblum Fest, visit THIS page for a complete set of links, updated as posts are released!

Hatchford Harrison's world was shattered in one quick moment when his youngest daughter, Sam, was hit by a car while she was riding her bike. Now he, his wife Lindsey, and his surviving daughter, Regina, are trying to piece their lives together again, one day at a time. It doesn't come easy. Regina is in that rebellious teenager phase and he's lucky if he knows where she is half the time. And then it happens. On a drive back from a mini-vacation in the mountains, a trucker falls asleep at the wheel, sends Hatch's vehicle spinning out of control and they plunge off the side of the road. Shoved to safety, Regina watches the car with her parents careen down the embankment to the freezing waters of a river far below.

Technically, this should be the end of the story. It's not. Dr. Jonas Nyebern specializes in reanimation within reason, and Hatch's condition, hypothermia for one thing, is ideal for an attempt to save the man's life. The attempt works and Hatch is revived, to the giddy relief of his wife and daughter. The only problem now is that Hatch is hallucinating. Not just any hallucinations, but ones of violent acts . . . murder, blood, and insanity. At first he think he either murders during these black-out periods or that he's going crazy. Neither is the case. Instead, Hatch is seeing through the eyes of a serial killer. The downside? The killer, a young lunatic named Vassago, can also see through Hatch's eyes.

Read More

Goldblum Fest: From Charity - Zach Nichols, The ISTP Detective (Law and Order: CI)

Allow me to say just one thing . . . Zach Nicholas is AWESOME. Charity introduced me to him last weekend. Literally, the last detective I met that I loved this much is the canon Sherlock Holmes. Hmm, is it coincidence that both of them are ISTPs? I think not.

So, go to Charity's blog (link at bottom of post). Read. Enjoy. Learn. Revel in the gloriousness that is the ISTP detective.

From Charity: Zach Nichols, The ISTP Detective

I first discovered Law and Order when I was still living with my parents. One afternoon, they started watching. Tried to interest me in it. Didn’t work. Then, I caved one afternoon, got hooked… and that was all, she wrote. I watched back to back episodes on TNT and new episodes on NBC for years. I started watching SVU once in awhile, and got hooked on Criminal Intent, too.

The introduction of Zach Nichols (Jeff Goldblum) in the eighth season of the latter series was an interesting choice; I recognized him from Jurassic Park, but didn’t really care either way. I simply liked him as a detective; he was a great alternative to Bobby Goren, the intense, hyperactive detective more than willing to play “bad cop” … because Nichols was the quiet, introspective, analytical “good cop.” Put them in the same episode, there were fireworks set off by two distinctly different personalities, each with differing strengths … but most of the time, Nichols went head to head with villains of every stripe alongside one of his two female partners.

Naturally, at the time I knew nothing about personality typing … but now, I understand why I always did like Nichols: he’s the latest in a long line of ISTP characters that have won me over with their intelligence, flashes of insight, and laid-back approach to life. From sci-fi to crime drama, and including the book character of Sherlock Holmes, ISTPs showcase one of the more driven personalities … and none is a better example of healthy functional interaction than Nichols.

~*~

Please visit Charity's BLOG to read the entire post! It is well worth it!

For all blog posts related to this Goldblum Fest, visit THIS page for a complete set of links, updated as posts are released!

Read More

Goldblum Fest: A World of Compromise in "Deep Cover"

For all blog posts related to this Goldblum Fest, visit THIS page for a complete set of links, updated as posts are released!

Do you ever look at people and wonder how they started life in a certain way and then got derailed? I mean, look at Tom Cruise. In his youth he wanted to be a Catholic priest and now he's a member of Scientology, an expensive and popularized cult. How do you get there?

I look at David Jason (Goldblum's character) in Deep Cover in much the same way, with a highly quizzical expression and a need to understand. Because I know why Laurence Fishburne's character, Russell Stevens Jr., is doing what he's doing. He's a cop under cover, really deep cover, trying to take down a drug ring. He has to get in tight with the bad boys, which unfortunately means selling some drugs on the street, which frankly, I'm not sure would have actually happened. But hey, this is the movies. What do you want? Accuracy?

No, what I'm talking about is David Jason. He is an apparent upstanding American citizen of Jewish heritage with a charming blonde wife and adorable little daughter. He is literally living the American dream, fine house, nice car, perfect life. Except that his life is built on lies and drugs and immorality. He is Russell's point of contact with the drug cartel. Everything about Jason is a lie.

On the exterior, Jason appears pristine, handsome, likeable even, in typical Jeff Goldblum fashion. But on the inside, he is corrupt. There is a high probability that David Jason was raised by devout Jewish parents. They likely prayed daily, took him to Synagogue, and he probably had a bar Mitzvah. To say nothing of celebrating Hanukkah and and Passover and all of the other traditions that go along with being, well, Jewish. But somewhere along that traditional religious path, he took one step down a different road.

Read More

Goldblum Fest: From Charity, Jurassic Park (A Lesson in Fatherhood)

For all blog posts related to this Goldblum Fest, visit THIS page for a complete set of links, updated as posts are released!

I knew Charity was writing this post. We sort of mulled over ideas on the weekend and I do believe her lessons on fatherhood from Jurassic Park stem in part from bits of a few conversations we shared.

She's right. Yes, Ian's intellect is delightful, but there is so much more to him than merely his education, and I'm glad Charity delved deeper into his psyche. He loves his daughter, more than even he knew at first, and he flies out to dinosaur island in a desperate attempt to protect the girlfriend he loves so much who just rushes pellmell into danger. Ian Malcolm, intellect aside, is a great guy and a great dad. I think you'll also enjoy how Charity ties fatherly love into all three Jurassic Park movies, because all three exhibit that bond in one way or another.

From Charity: Jurassic Park (A Lesson in Fatherhood)

In a high pressure, intense situation… what would you do?

Airlines tell you, in the event of a disaster, to put on your own oxygen mask before attending to the mask of the person next to you. The implication is that in disastrous situations, many would be selfless. And, human beings have proven this time and again … rushing into burning buildings, flooding rivers, or flaming overturned vehicles to save people they have never even met before. Why do we do it? Maybe because it’s inborn in us, to want to help where we can; that those stronger must help those in need. Evolution can’t explain it. Survival of the fittest doesn’t come into play… when we’re protecting the weak.

The granddaddy of all “protect the weak” stories is the Jurassic Park franchise. It exploded onto the big screen around the same time I was fully fascinated with dinosaurs … and in some sense, cured me of my desire to be a “dinosaur doctor” … ie, to have Alan Grant’s job. It’s still one of my favorite franchises, despite being gruesome; and though I have seen it dozens of times, it still scares the hell out of me every time I watch it. Spielberg knows how to create suspense. When Carissa invited me to participate in Jeff Goldblum Fest, I realized it was the chance to talk about one of my favorite film franchises … but I had no particular angle with which to approach it. And then, re-watching the second film with her over the weekend, everything fell into place, the common theme woven throughout these stories of people being eaten because of one man’s desire to play God – family.

~*~

Please visit Charity's BLOG to read the entire post! It is well worth it!

Read More

Goldblum Fest: Hamlette's review of Silverado (1985)

For all blog posts related to this Goldblum Fest, visit THIS page for a complete set of links, updated as posts are released!

If there is one thing I love about Hamlette, it's her talent at making almost any movie review laugh-out-loud funny. This review is hilarity personified!

I really never know Goldblum had performed in a western, let alone with such actors as Kevin Costner and Kevin Kline. Now I have to watch Silverado and I suspect you'll feel the same after reading her review!

From Hamlette: Silverado (1985)

This, my friends, is one of my absolute favorite westerns.  Ever.  In my top ten list, I put it at number 6.  It's about some unlikely friends who, having only just met, work together to rid Silverado of a bunch of evildoers.  You can see why it appeals to me, right?  Got that whole "found family" thing going on, and also a couple sets of actual siblings.

 Also, I'm reviewing this especially for Carissa's Goldblum Fest, which runs through the 29th.  So I'll be spending a bit of extra time discussing Jeff Goldblum's role in this, giving him a few extra screenshots, etc.  And yeah, this is gonna be one of those screencap-happy posts.  Not nearly enough Silverado screenshots out there.

Silverado was written by brothers Lawrence and Mark Kasdan, and directed and produced by Lawrence Kasdan.  Basically, if my best friend and I ever wrote a western together, and we knew it was our one shot at getting our own cowboy movie made, this is what would happen.  We would cram every single thing we love about westerns into that one movie.  Showdowns, wagon trains, bar fights, beautiful scenery, farmer vs. rancher tension, gamblers, saloon girls, stampedes, everything.  The result?  A love letter to westerns, and a thoroughly satisfying movie.  Of course, having all those things in it does make it feel episodic, as we bop from one classic adventure to the next, but you know what?  I like episodic stories.

~*~

Please visit Hamlette's BLOG to read the entire review!

Read More

Goldblum Fest: Personality Typing the INTP x ISFJ using Jurassic Park

For all blog posts related to this Goldblum Fest, visit THIS page for a complete set of links, updated as posts are released!

This post from Funky MBTI Fiction just seemed entirely too fortuitous for me to overlook. With permission, I'm sharing it with you. The mod of the above tumblr board is responding to someone wanting an example of an INTP and an ISFJ contrasted with one another in the same setting. Jurassic Park provides the ideal film base since Ellie is an ISFJ and Malcolm is an INTP. Enjoy!

Have you seen Jurassic Park?

Ellie is an ISFJ… Ian Malcom is an INTP.

Ti users… think… think… think… never stop thinking. Ian does that all the time. More than Ellie, though considering the extreme circumstances, she’s able to stay calm in an intense life or death situation.

Before Ian even reaches the island, he’s analyzing the possibilities of what might happen as a result of bringing a million year old extinct species back to life. He’s already ticking Hammond off long before he sees an actual dinosaur, because he is bringing up all the logical fallacies of … everything. The potential flaws in the park, in what this research is all about, in the effects it will have on life as humans know it. Ian can see the broad, sweeping implications of this research… how it branches out into other scientific realms, its religious and social implications, how it might impact the surrounding islands, etc. EVOLUTION FINDS A WAY, AND YOU SHOULD NOT BE SCREWING WITH IT. He’s thinking on an enormous scale and concluding that THIS IS A DUMB IDEA. Remember, if Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists. =P

To read more, which I highly recommend you do, go HERE.

Read More

Goldblum Fest: The Attraction to Intellectual Men

Welcome to Day One of the Goldblum Fest!

For all blog posts related to this Goldblum Fest, visit THIS page for a complete set of links, updated as posts are released!

It's remarkable what can happen in a single weekend. I just returned from visiting Charity since we only live a few hours from one another. She agreed, most kindly I think, to spend much of our time together watching Jeff Goldblum movies and television programs. I re-introduced her to the awesomeness that is Independence Day, forced her to watch the undeniably B-grade Hideaway, then she showed me multiple episodes of his seasons in Law and Order: Criminal Intent, finishing off with a scrumptious viewing of Jurassic Park: The Lost World. I swear, we did more than just watch television, no worries.

But I realized how fun it is to sit down with your best friend and indulge oneself in an actor's accomplishments. During our foray into the world of Jeff Goldblum, it hit me that intellectual men are attractive. Not just mildly attractive, but abundantly attractive. I've watched Jeff play practically everything over the last month. He did a ton of B grade work in the 70s and 80s before finally branching out into more solid fare in the mid 90s. He's played a stupid PI in Tenspeed and Brown Shoe, a dude who gets morphed into a pod person in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a guy who gets sent to investigate monster sightings in Transylvania 6-5000, and a man who works for a home shopping television station opposite Eddie Murphy in Holy Man, to say nothing of the countless roles I didn't watch because I looked at them and went "What the . . . ?"

So, yes, never kid yourself into thinking that he hasn't done B grade work because he has, a lot of it, probably more than he's ever done serious acting. But that's really okay because I look at the few truly stellar performances he's given and I am impressed. I'm actually beyond impressed . . . I LOVE him. What makes those roles stand out from the rest?

His intellect.

Smart men are sexy. Take it or leave it, accept it or not, but it's true. When Goldblum accepted the roles of Ian Malcolm in the Jurassic Park franchise, Zachary Nichols in Law and Order: CI, and David Levinson in Independence Day, he did the world and himself a massive favor. He transformed himself beyond the mere B grade film star to an actor not only capable of playing intellectual characters, but an actor who excels at them.

Read More

Lesson in Soul Mates from Robert Downey Jr. in "Only You"

Along from my sudden Jeff Goldblum craze is the Robert Downey Jr. craze. It's weird how these two crazes appear to be going in tandem, especially since I didn't even like RDJ up until last year. Be that as it may, I like him now, and so for the last few weeks, I've spent time tracking down some of his older films, like Soapdish, Heart and Souls, and a cute little film called Only You, on which this post is based.

Every once in a great while, I briefly ponder the idea of soul mates. But always without giving the thought much credence or, quite frankly, attention. In fact, I haven't really thought about soul mates in years, not until I watched Only You which is steeped in the concept, particularly Plato's theology.

Read More

In Defense of Tony Stark

I must admit that a post by Marissa Baker got me started thinking about bad boys vs. good guys, etc. So you can actually give her a kudos for inspiring me to delve a little deeper into the reasons why I like some bad boys compared to others. It all boils down to 4 qualifications that they exude, either a few of the qualifications or all of them: Power, Seduction, Wealth, Intellect. All the bad boys on my list have at least three of these qualifications, if not all of them.

I'm not talking about the dirt poor, rides a Harley, wears black leather, smokes and does drugs type of bad boy. Because for me, that type of dude is not attractive because he has literally no prospects and no desire to reform. Not even Marlon Brando in The Wild One or James Dean in Rebel without a Cause would ever convince me to date them or run away with them, because what would I be running to? A hovel with a potentially violent husband? No thanks.

So, prep yourself for my discussion on bad boys over the next week or so. And no list of bad boys would be complete without the inimitable Tony Stark in the lead.

Read More

Announcing the Goldblum Fest - March 23rd thru the 29th

Have you ever had an actor epiphany? I watched Jurassic Park for the first time a year ago, saw Jeff Goldblum clad all in black and literally went, "Where the heck have you been all my life?" That's what comes of him performing in films I, prior to discovering the man, had no interest in ever seeing, Jurassic Park accepted.

However, much to my delight and your horror, I am now a bona fide Jeff Goldblum fangirl! And because he has recently made it onto my heartbreak hunks list of actors, I just couldn't let the chance to do a Goldblum Fest sneak on past.

Instead of tormenting all of my dear readers for an entire month though, I will be good and limit the Fest to merely a single week. Don't you love me?

Claimed Blog Topics

• Musings of an Introvert: The Attraction to Intellectual Men (Jurassic Park, Law and Order: CI, Independence Day)
• Funky MBTI Fiction (reblogged): Personality Typing an INTP x ISFJ using Jurassic Park
• Hamlette: Silverado (1985)
• Charity: Jurassic Park - A Lesson in Fatherhood
• Musings of an Introvert: Deep Cover: A World of Compromise
• Charity: Zach Nichols, The ISTP Detective (Law and Order: CI)
• Musings of an Introvert: Hideaway - A Supernatural Effect
• Musings of an Introvert: Prince of Egypt - The Animated jeff Goldblum
• Musings of an Introvert: The Incomparable Detective Raines
• DKoren: Goldblum, Starsky, and Hutch

Guidelines, such as they are:

1) If you care to join, please reply to this post with your name, your blog address, and the topics you intend to write (I don't mind double postings about the same film).

2) I will maintain discretion as to which topics/films I will accept as part of my Goldblum Fest.

3) When the blog fest starts, make sure to post your links for me on this post!

3) Please upload one of the following photos linking back to this post in your blog widgets!

Read More