Saturday, October 19, 2019

Current War (New Film) and The Imitation Game

What better actor to portray the famous American inventor than the wonderful American actor, Benedict Cumberbatch!  I am kidding! Of course, Benedict Cumberbatch is British.  And anybody else remember that we learned from one of the geneology shows that he is related to King Richard III? Anybody?  Not to worry if you don't know that, you do now! On our flight to England, I watched a film with Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightly, "The Imitation Game", based on the true story of Alan Turing and his team during World War II to break the radio code of the Nazis. If you have never seen that film, I highly recommend it! (I had seen it before, but it was well worth watching again.)

Thomas Edison! In the days when we used to play the game "Trivial Pursuit", whenever there was a question about inventors, I would always say, "Thomas Edison" and nine times out of ten, I would be right!  I think I have read that he had 1093 patents, the most famous ones, being the light bulb, phonograph and movie camera.  I have written of my fascination of inventors before, so you can be sure that I would like to see this film about him. To have Benedict Cumberbatch as Edison...well, that is perfectly fine with me! The film title is "Current War" and is about Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse.  (I do hope that the film is not one of those that have been...you know, "made to be edgy for modern times",  in Hollywood fashion. We will see.)

Of these two films, I will be honest with you...I know for sure that "The Imitation Game" is worth seeing.  Y'all let me know if you see this new film and what you think of it!




This was at the British Library in London which I also highly recommend! If you would like to read more about it and the exhibition that it is connected to, you may do so just here.

Still have lots to tell you about our trip to England! I am doing much better now.  Thanks for all your well wishes.  Here, I am walking by the sea in Eastbourne...it looks cold but it wasn't, just windy and cloudy. It was over 90 degrees in Georgia on this day in late September, so I was very happy to be beside the sea and to feel that nice sea breeze...




36 comments:

  1. I noticed your statement:
    In the days when we used to play Trivia Pursuit.
    I miss those old days. The game is still in the closet somewhere.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I loved that game! I was really good with the brown cards and the pink ones...I think the brown was arts and literature and the pink was entertainment. I know my films and my books!

      Delete
  2. So glad to hear you are better! Cumberbatch is not among my favourite actors, I must admit, but of course both Alan Turing and Thomas Edison's lives were fascinating and had an impact that is still felt today.
    I am looking forward to read more about your trip!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not a big fan of Benedict? Oh dear, when he reads this blog, you will be sorry you wrote that! HA! Still, he seems like a nice guy and that is really all I care about, as you know. I wonder if it is because he is in so many things? I thought he was great in that movie about Enigma. Of course, I thought Keira Knightly was too!

      Delete
  3. I like him although my favourite part that he plays is that of Sherlock HOlmes. He's perfect in it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That was very popular for him, I am sure. I just watched him recently in an old Miss Marple and he was good, he was quite young in it!

      Delete
  4. I always learn something when I come here. lol Oh! I loved playing Trivial Pursuit and we had the Disney one, too, that the kids loved.
    Hope you have a great night. xo Diana

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha! Never played the Disney one...that sounds like a game that I might be good at!

      Delete
  5. We enjoyed "The Imitation Game" too. Any film with Benedict Cumberbatch in it is worth seeing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Benedict will be happy when he reads your comment! :-)

      Delete
  6. So glad you're better and I think a movie about Thomas Edison would be a good one. He's pretty famous in our neck of the woods! (Born in Milan, Ohio) Have a good week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See, I told you I keep writing about folks from Ohio! Hope you have a great week!

      Delete
  7. Replies
    1. It looks interesting with all those British actors! Still, sometimes films these days are too "edgy" for me, the editing of them...the scenes move quickly from one to another and my head is left spinning. I have a certain idea the way a film should be, I really do wish someone would consult me before they release any films!

      Delete
  8. I'm really glad that you are feeling better. What interesting movies you have to tell us about. Like the Librarian I am not that fond of Cumberbatch, but I think he is a good actor. Maybe I just didn't like his Sherlock. At any rate, Edison and Turing were fascinating characters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now, I am curious about your dislike for Benedict Cumberbatch! I bet it is because you didn't care for his Sherlock, do you think? I am better, although now, I am having some problems coming off the medications. Always something! :-)

      Delete
  9. Well - hello and welcome back to the UK. You've not been well? Hope all is well now. "The Imitation Game" is a good movie, though has been criticised for its historical inaccuracies. A film about Edison sounds like a bit of light relief...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, but I have been home a few weeks now. I was sick and wasn't able to write too much. I still need to do some posts about my visit to England. As it is with any movie, I always like to read as much as I can about the person and what their life was really like, not just what I am shown in the movie. I am a great fan of non fiction and history...so I am grateful for any film that has the wonderful phrase "based on a true story."

      Delete
  10. I like Keira Knightley a lot. She is such a beautiful actress. Thanks for the recommendation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too! Beautiful AND intelligent (like us!) I have liked Keira Knightly since I saw her in that film, "Bend It Like Beckham"! Liked her in anything I have ever seen her in. We have such good taste!

      Delete
  11. I've always admired Thomas Edison and hope to see that film. I love the picture of you on the beach. Nice you got to experience some cooler weather.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I felt so awful and looked so bad, I only allowed Richard to take a photo of me from a great distance away! It was nice to have that sea air though, heavenly really. xx

      Delete
  12. Walking beside the sea is nice anytime. Richard III - wasn't he the last of the Plantagenets and thought to have ordered the deaths of the little princes? Well, we all have shady characters in our ancestry - movie stars included!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course, there are those who say that Richard III just had bad press, that he really didn't order the deaths of the little princes. I wonder if we will ever really know. I wrote about Richard III when they found his bones in a car parking lot in Leicester, a few years ago. Whatever characters are in my ancestry, I am grateful for them. Without them, I wouldn't be me!

      Delete
  13. It's a good film, The Imitation Game. And Alan Turing also did pioneering work on why animals have spots, stripes, paws, fingers etc and a mathematical explanation of how this occurs before he died. Also a groundbreaking idea well ahead of its time that's only now being fully appreciated with modern genetics.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He really was a genius. Such a terrible shame that he took his own life, it does make you wonder what else he could have accomplished.

      Delete
  14. I've seen Imitation Game and agree with you. He was such an amazing man. I might not be remembering correctly, but I thought there was something about him at the National Cryptologic Museum.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That would be another museum I would like to visit!

      Delete
  15. I saw the Imitation Game too and enjoyed it. I'd like to see Current Wars too. I love the British Library in London ~ It is magnificent. We might get back to Hove and Brighton relatively soon ~ Terry's sister has invited us to use her place again. I'd love to go back. I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better, Kay! Can't wait to hear more about England!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The British Library, I could live there just as I could at the British Museum! You have a place to stay in Brighton? We must be able to be in England at the same time one day! Would the Brits be able to handle two Yanks like us? Be fun trying to find out!

      Delete
    2. It sure would be fun! And OMG, I love the British Museum. Your new header is cute!

      Delete
    3. If it is the sandy Jack O Lantern header...that was on the banks of the Thames in London!

      Delete
  16. LOL at your Trivial Pursuit strategy. We used to play it, too, with another couple, and the husband would answer any literature question with "George Bernard Shaw," since he said he didn't know anything about literature. Imagine his surprise when that was the actual answer once!

    Here's some neat trivia about Thomas Edison: he proposed to his second wife, Mina, by tapping morse code into her palm while on a horse ride in New Hampshire. We visited the Edison estate in Fort Myers a few months ago. Neat place!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Pixel Peeper!
      I love the same answer to any literature question! See, games should really be about being fun...although some folks don't like my attitude, they are too competitive!
      I love the story of Edison tapping morse code for a proposal. Another fact filed away into my brain which won't really help me in my life but I like having it there all the same.
      Thanks for your visit!

      Delete
  17. We saw that Enigma machine at the National Cryptologic Museum which was really interesting. I would like to see this movie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I loved The Imitation Game! Let me know if you see it!

      Delete