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Reading Lolita in Tehran, Chief of Station, The Bombing of Pan Am 103

Movie 1: Reading Lolita in Tehran

This is an interesting and charming Iranian film. An Iranian teacher leaves America and returns to Tehran during the 1979 revolution. She teaches banned books to several women, in secret, in her apartment. Well done and shows the fierce human spirit of defiance for learning and freedom. Limited theater release. It wasn’t showing in San Francisco, so we had to take BART to the East Bay suburb of Orinda to see it. If playing near you, well worth viewing. English and Farsi with English subtitles.

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Movie 2: Chief of Station

This is another Netflix movie that is very entertaining. It’s an action thriller set mainly in Budapest where an ex CIA station chief hunts down the terrorists that murder his wife, who is also a CIA agent. Good acting, action and tension all around.

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Movie 3: The Bombing of Pan Am 103

This is a really well done and riveting six part series on Netflix. It recreates the events hours before, and years after, the infamous terror attack. It highlights the efforts, on both sides of the Atlantic, to solve this 1988 hideous event. Good acting and well directed coordination between actual footage and dramatization. This series is very bingeable. We watched all six episodes (about 54 minutes each) in one day.

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The Odyssey, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, Old Henry

Movie 1: The Odyssey

This is an absolutely fantastic epic action/drama/fantasy movie. It spans 20 plus years as Odysseus goes off to fight the Trojan Wars. The acting, directing, cinematography, costumes, sets and sound are all phenomenal. Christopher Nolan has created another masterpiece (following his brilliant Oppenheimer). The three hour run time flies by. See it on the biggest screen possible. Be prepared to be stunned. Movies get no better than this.

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Movie 2: Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass

This is an adult themed, very funny comedy. A young Midwestern couple, before their marriage, give each other a free pass to have sex with any celebrity of their choosing. Assuming, of course, the celebrity is willing. Heading towards Hollywood all manner of hilarious escapades happen. Surprising number of cameo appearances by big stars. Totally implausible, but a lot of fun.

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Movie 3: Old Henry

This is a 2021 Netflix western. While not based on a true story this movie does follow the myth of Billy the Kid and where and when he died. Set in the 1906 Oklahoma Territory it follows the life of a widowed farmer and his teenage son. Really good acting, especially by Tim Blake Nelson. Even though the movie is five years old, we had not heard of it. It was interesting watching a western again, especially since there are so few out there.

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Evil Dead Burn, Moana, Little House on the Prairie

Movie 1: Evil Dead Burn

This is a supernatural horror film that is the sixth movie in the Evil Dead franchise. We don’t remember seeing any of the previous movies and should have stayed far away from this one. A widower goes home seeking comfort from her family only to face demonic forces (we think). We found it a bloody, gory, burning mess. For those who want to see the previous five movies, they are all streaming on Max.

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Movie 2: Moana

This is Disney’s live action version of the popular animated franchise. A young girl leaves her island for the first time and ventures beyond its protective reef. While it is interesting to watch, with very good special effects, we found it just ok. But we do give it credit for its very good message of self-empowerment and encouraging young people to dream big and go after those dreams. For a Disney movie it had a very disappointing financial opening weekend. And indeed we were the only two in our theater on a Friday afternoon.

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Movie 3: Little House on the Prairie

This is an eight episode series on Netflix, a prequel to the popular TV show of the 1970’s and 80’s. The Ingalls family moves west from Wisconsin, settling in Independence Kansas. While the acting and cinematography is well done, we found each episode rather bland and very antiseptic. Although the series does deserve credit for at least touching on difficult topics; i.e., racism, environmental issues living on the prairie, the displacement of Native Americans, and disease. Each episode is about 47 minutes, and a Season 2 is planned.

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JimJohn.net hits 10 years!

Just a quick post from your dedicated admin here at JimJohn.net .

John and Jim are currently off on another trip, enjoying the delights of Europe. But I didn’t want to let today go by without a special note.

Please join me in thanking Jim and John for 10 years of interesting posts here on JimJohn.net. Their first post was ten years ago today. Since then they have taken us on trips around the world to enjoy art, history, food, and fun.

Equally important, at least, they have reviewed over 1,800 movies for us. They sent us to many great films that we might have otherwise missed. And they’ve used their “flaming-zero” to stop us from wasting $15 on many stinkers.

I’ve been with John and Jim on this project from day one. I’ve been very impressed by their dedication to the project. I’ve enjoyed every post. And, even more, I’ve enjoyed working with these two fine guys.

I know that many of you have been here for a long time, too. Please join me in congratulating Jim and John on their ten year run. Join me in thanking them for all the hard work that they’ve put into JimJohn.net. And join me in encouraging them to keep up the good work.

Thanks, Guys!

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It’s the 500th Post!

Congratulations and our thanks to Jim and John for 500 great posts on movies, world travel, food and fun.

Hi there! This is the very first guest-post on this site. I’m the Admin of JimJohn.net and I have followed along on this fun journey for nearly five years. I represent all of Jim and John’s readers when I say that we really appreciate this fine website and all of John and Jim’s hard work. (I should also mention that they don’t know that I am posting this.)

Jim and John’s most recent post was their 500^th post.

They have reviewed nearly a thousand movies for us. They brought many great films to our attention and saved us ten buck on many others, if you know what I mean.

Through their great photography, they have taken us along with them as they’ve traveled the world. Dozens of foreign countries – and Wisconsin!

They’ve shown us the highlights of some of the world’s best museums and historical sites, enriching our knowledge of art and history.

They have shared great meals with us, in the widest variety of locations and culinary styles.

They’ve shared their lives with us on this site and have become cherished friends to us all.

For all of this, we thank them both for their dedication and their focus on bringing us meaningful, interesting, entertaining information a couple of times each week. We look forward to each and every post.

I hope that all of you following this blog will take a moment right now and post your own thoughts in the comments section below.

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