Often been surprised by a movie after what a film critic said about it? Ever felt cheated out of big bucks on the recommendations of a punk 24-year-old? Or really loved the ones they panned? Well, you no longer need to feel out of step with the current movie review band. Different Drummer is for you. Read more about our take on the film world. And get ready to relive your favorite movies with the recipes that follow each review. You can find many other great recipes in Different Drummer’s own Appetite for Murder: A Mystery Lover’s Cookbook.
In the summer of 1983 our family was lucky enough to live in Tubingen, Germany, a medieval town nestled on the banks of the Neckar River while my husband taught at its university. Here are a few recipes from that area to help you celebrate your own Oktoberfest wherever you may be.
Read MoreCalifornia’s corruption and water mismanagement go all the way to the 30s in this excellent film noir. So now this classic that was nominated for 11 Oscars is not just a great cinema; it’s a wakeup call as well.
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This great series has it all. Brutal battle sequences, excellent character development, nuanced themes reminiscent of both Greek and Shakespearean tragedy, and of course, some pretty great romance, albeit on the graphic side.
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Beirut in 1982, once exotic and sophisticated, is now a chaotic rubble. But no more so than its prodigal son, fallen from diplomatic grace, who returns to rescue an old friend.
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In what is arguably the most romantic film ever made, Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr exchange witty and self-effacing banter on the long way to love, their airy chitchat hiding two vulnerable hearts.
Read MoreThis must see 2022 film will restore your faith in modern cinema. Everything in it is a work of art, from the delicious food, the scenery that resembles fine paintings, the piquant satire, brilliant script, and the outstanding acting.
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Xena like you’ve never seen her. Lucy Lawless brings that same fearless warrior spirit to fighting crime in modern day Melbourne as she did in sword and sandal Greece. And she still kicks ass, but this time using her mental prowess and wily spirit.
Read MoreJust change the point of view and “the greatest story ever told” becomes new and fresh again. This time it is the disciples, uneducated and often lost and confused, who frame this exquisite narrative about Jesus.
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Year Released: 1995
Directed by: Alfonso Arau
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Anthony Quinn, Aitana Sanchez, Giancario Giannini, Debra Messing
(PG-13, 102 minutes)
Genre: Romance
Do films have to be cynical and unhappy? Not hardly. Put away your cares and take “a walk in the clouds.”
Oh, and you’ll have to travel back more than 25 years – when the film was made in 1995 – another half century to the end of World War II, which is the setting. An era both more tragic and yet simpler, too.
Army sergeant Paul Sutton (Keanu Reeves) returns from the war to San Francisco and the wife he met and married the weekend before shipping out. More common than we might think, by the way.
The war has changed him; internal scars from that deadly conflict still haunt. Paul Sutton is not the same man now and wants to give up his job as a candy salesman for a new life.
All of which he has expressed in the daily letters he has written to his wife Betty (Debra Messing), who unfortunately has just stashed them away instead of reading them.
We all know this quick marriage is a mistake, but the decent Paul tries to do the right thing and takes a train to Sacramento to reapply for his old dead-end job.
Here is where we must inject Roger Ebert’s take on the film. He sees it as a sort of litmus test for the audience, giving it his highest rating:
“A Walk in the Clouds is a glorious romantic fantasy, aflame with passion and bittersweet longing. One needs perhaps to have a little of these qualities in one's soul to respond fully to the film, which to a jaundiced eye might look like overworked melodrama, but that to me sang with innocence and trust...At a time when movies seem obligated to be cynical, when it is easier to snicker than to sigh, what a relief this film is.” – Roger Ebert
This romantic soul (Different Drummer) has to agree with Ebert. The younger me rejected sentimental films as below par even if I secretly liked them. Now I have seen enough sadness in life that I embrace happy endings, innocence, and trust with open arms.
Yes, it is mostly melodrama that follows in our film – a chance meeting with a lovely girl on the train, Victoria Aragon (Aitana Sanchez), heir to a wealthy family that traces its roots to Mexico and Spain before that.
Her aristocratic and traditional family headed by a father who rules the roost and is sure “to kill his daughter if he finds out she is pregnant without a husband.”
The ever decent Paul volunteers to stand in for him in a temporary ill thought out scheme.
Anthony Quinn plays Victoria’s grandfather, the opposite of his son. He is filled with love and acceptance, the kind that orphan Paul has never known.
We have a lot of set pieces, some kind of hooky, like a grape stomping dance with barefoot women smashing grapes in a huge wooden tub. And somehow we forget the whole 3 week fermentation process, and the new wine is ready to taste almost immediately. Just as it was in Kirk Douglas’s Ulysses.
We also have a set of calamities that hit so hard and fast that it takes our breath away, but what anchors the film, which of course audiences loved and so many “critics” loathed, is the innocence and thorough decency of Victoria and Paul.
Each is willing to sacrifice their chance for happiness out of deference for others. Of course Paul must return to his wife, Victoria tells him, even we all know said wife is a superficial manipulator, not worth the lovely raven hair on Victoria’s head.
We laugh as they rush to cuddle together on the family’s bed when anyone enters their bedroom, Paul quickly returning to his quilt on the floor afterward.
I guess the same critics who complain about toxic masculinity are not too happy when it’s not there.
Enjoy this sweet film with Pumpkin Flower Soup or Chocolate Flan with Frosted Grapes, celebrating Victoria’s family and Paul past job selling chocolates, As well as many other creative and delicious treats.
–Kathy Borich
🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁
Indiana’s version of Dazed and Confused. But it is also very Greek, too, since it asks the question, “Who Am I?” Except we are not talking about kings and queens, but four Bloomington, Indiana, townies trying to find their way in life the year after high school.
Read MoreRomantic comedies, or films in general, don’t get much better than this! Thoroughly delightful, this 1999 British film gets better with each viewing. Part of that is the charm of Hugh Grant at his zenith here, the loveliness of a radiant Julia Roberts, and a script that is witty and insightful.
“New report dismantles viral rumors about serial killer in Austin.
Social media hype fueled panic over a serial killer that didn't exist.”
The new study involved 22 years while the body count has increased drastically in the last 3 years.
In the past three years, the causes of death have been mainly attributed to accidental drownings. Second is suicide, as well as drug overdoses, and natural causes.
By using a longer period of time, the average deaths obscure the more recent uptick in deaths. And buried in the report is the fact that of the recent deaths, “About half a dozen called “unknown.” The link below features facts, interviews, and family members who are not content with the Austin Police Department’s dismissive views on the drownings.
Read more at this link:
This one appears to be an accident, but what about the “Over 3 Dozen Bodies Found in or around Lady Bird Lake since 2022.
Read more here https://www.differentdrummer.cc/main/body-of-paddle-boarder-found-in-ladybird-lake-june-3-2025
For a more complete summary of events read more here: https://www.differentdrummer.cc/main/rainey-street-drownings-the-smiley-face-killer-connection?rq=Petition%20Demands
"Very scary, especially given that I live in this neighborhood," said Neda, who lives near the lake.
The woman's body was found Sunday, Dec. 1, in the water near Brazos and East Cesar Chavez Streets.
"A 911 call was received from a kayaker who was paddling upstream and observed some type of object in the water," said Officer Leah Ratliff with the Austin Police Department.
Police say it appears the woman was homeless, in her 60s, and may have been trying to keep warm, when she somehow ended up in the water. Detectives do not suspect foul play.
"There's nothing that appears to be suspicious. There's no type of connection that they believe," said Ratliff.
o Another body was found in Lady Bird Lake on Dec. 2
o The death was one of at least six near the lake so far this year
o Another death in the lake sparks renewed concerns
AUSTIN, Texas - There are renewed concerns after the body of a woman was found in Lady Bird Lake over the weekend. This is one of at least six deaths in or near the lake so far this year.
"Very scary, especially given that I live in this neighborhood," said Neda, who lives near the lake.
The woman's body was found Sunday, Dec. 1, in the water near Brazos and East Cesar Chavez Streets.
"A 911 call was received from a kayaker who was paddling upstream and observed some type of object in the water," said Officer Leah Ratliff with the Austin Police Department.
Police say it appears the woman was homeless, in her 60s, and may have been trying to keep warm, when she somehow ended up in the water. Detectives do not suspect foul play.
"There's nothing that appears to be suspicious. There's no type of connection that they believe," said Ratliff.
A petition calls out the Austin Police and City officials for what it terms “a miscarriage of Justice,” hinting that there is something “darker at play” here, and accuses officials of treating the victims’ families “callously and without empathy.”
Victim’s family pleads against plea bargain for this Austin Serial Killer.
https://www.differentdrummer.cc/main/i-survived-the-rainey-street-ripper
“I survived the Rainey Street ripper': Drugged man who plummeted 25ft off bridge believes 'serial killer' stalking Austin tried to drown him.” Daily Mail
Twelve bodies have been found in Lady Bird Lake and Colorado River since 2022
Police insist there is no serial killer but the mounting bodies sees rumor persist
Jeff Jones survived falling off bridge near river, thinks he may have been pushed
Read more here
The Serpent’s Tooth: A Texas Mystery
Austin is now the trendy number one city, but back in the eighties it was more laid back – not so many skyscrapers and urban hipsters. Just outside of town, you'd be likely to run into old cowboys, ranch hands, and a diamondback or two. And just maybe – an accidental death not as accidental as it seems…
Complete with Texas Recipes for the Oktoberfest Dinner where all is revealed.
An Illustrated Introduction to Classical Horsemanship: Concepts and Skills from A to Z
by Gary Borich
A comprehensive resource in a succinct alphabetical format that brings the beginning rider through every aspect of learning to train and ride for show and trail.
o Another body was found in Lady Bird Lake on Dec. 2
o The death was one of at least six near the lake so far this year
o Another death in the lake sparks renewed concerns
AUSTIN, Texas - There are renewed concerns after the body of a woman was found in Lady Bird Lake over the weekend. This is one of at least six deaths in or near the lake so far this year.
"Very scary, especially given that I live in this neighborhood," said Neda, who lives near the lake.
The woman's body was found Sunday, Dec. 1, in the water near Brazos and East Cesar Chavez Streets.
"A 911 call was received from a kayaker who was paddling upstream and observed some type of object in the water," said Officer Leah Ratliff with the Austin Police Department.
Police say it appears the woman was homeless, in her 60s, and may have been trying to keep warm, when she somehow ended up in the water. Detectives do not suspect foul play.
"There's nothing that appears to be suspicious. There's no type of connection that they believe," said Ratliff.
o Another body was found in Lady Bird Lake on Dec. 2
o The death was one of at least six near the lake so far this year
o Another death in the lake sparks renewed concerns
AUSTIN, Texas - There are renewed concerns after the body of a woman was found in Lady Bird Lake over the weekend. This is one of at least six deaths in or near the lake so far this year.
"Very scary, especially given that I live in this neighborhood," said Neda, who lives near the lake.
The woman's body was found Sunday, Dec. 1, in the water near Brazos and East Cesar Chavez Streets.
"A 911 call was received from a kayaker who was paddling upstream and observed some type of object in the water," said Officer Leah Ratliff with the Austin Police Department.
Police say it appears the woman was homeless, in her 60s, and may have been trying to keep warm, when she somehow ended up in the water. Detectives do not suspect foul play.
"There's nothing that appears to be suspicious. There's no type of connection that they believe," said Ratliff.
https://www.differentdrummer.cc/main/body-of-paddle-boarder-found-in-ladybird-lake-june-3-2025
