Dixon Museum: Power & Piety & Edward Giobbi

POWER & PIETY: SPANISH COLONIAL ART This exhibits runs through September 24. These liturgical objects are from a private collection and organized by the now defunct Museum of Biblical Art in NYNY (an arm of the Bible Society of America). Items include paintings, church furniture, statues and communion ware. Many of the pieces were from Venezuala and Cuba. Of interest is one sculpture made on the west coast of South America from ivory imported from the Philippines during colonial times. The exhibit is well displayed, varied and with detailed provenance. EDWARD GIOBBI: AN ARTIST COMES TO MEMPHIS This exhibit also runs through September 24. Edward Giobbi was born in Connecticut and married Memphian Ellie Turner. Ellie’s brother, Norfleet Turner was a close personal friend of the Hugo Dixons and served on the original board of the museum. Painting style is somewhere between impressionism and modern art. Subjects include the Maji, as well as his wife and friends. Of interest is a photo of the artist painting one of his subjects that is on display. His style is an unusual but recognizable fusion of forms.

Movie Review: "The Finest Hours"

This movie, starring Chris Pine and Casey Affleck, is a recounting of the greatest small boat rescue in US Coast Guard history. In 1952, a massive winter storm strikes the Northeast, ripping an oil tanker in two. Thirty men are trapped in the stern of the tanker off the coast of Massachusetts. Casey Affleck plays an assistant engineer who takes charge of keeping the remnant of the tanker afloat. Chris Pine is a young coast guard warrant officer who is tasked with the seemingly impossible task of braving the storm with three man to rescue the tanker’s surviving crew. The film is a well scripted and developed story of two ordinary men (Pine and Affleck) accomplishing extraordinary feats with determination, self-sacrifice and bravery. The special effects are superb. The movie is suspenseful without being drawn out.

Movie Review: "Mr Holmes"

This movie is a different rendition of the famous detective series. The story takes place in 1947 England in a remote rural seaside setting near the white cliffs of Dover. Holmes has been retired for over 30 years. He is haunted the personal failure of the last case of his career. Most of his days are spent tending bees in the company of a somewhat cantankerous housekeeper and her young son. Aware of the diminishing powers of his mind, he searches for answers to this case and personal conflicts. The pace of the movie is necessarily slow. Ian McKellen’s performance was as usual, masterful. The cinematography was sumptuous.

Movie Review: "Tommorwland"

This science fiction movie centers around a scientifically curious teenage girl and a boy genius who share a collective memory of a utopian future. A large part of the story is the girl’s search for the meaning and origin of a mysteriously delivered token that temporarily transports her to a wonder world somewhere in the future. During the course of her quest, she meets up with a former boy genius (George Clooney) who has lost hope in the future of mankind. The special effects and cinematography are excellent. The plot development is somewhat disjointed. The movie is about 30 minutes too long. As per Hollywood usual, the saviors of mankind will only be those who different, somewhat socially outcast, but creatively gifted.

Movie Review "Woman in Gold"

This movie fairly accurately recounts the real life story of Maria Altman, a WWII Austrian Jewish refugee’s quest to restore a portrait of her Aunt that was confiscated by the Nazi’s before the war. The almost priceless portrait- along with other family owned works of art by the same painter, reside in a national Austrian art museum. The story follows Maria Altman, and her inexperienced nephew’s, quest to return the “Woman in Gold” to its rightful owner. The quest for justice and the evolving relationship between Maria and her nephew are the central part of the plot. The Holocaust and war serve only as a backdrop. Both Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynold’s portrayal as Maria and her nephew are superb. In the midst of drama there are also moments of humor and self discovery. There is only a single profanity in the entire movie. The Plot is well developed. The cinematography above average. Movie length is appropriate for the subject.

Movie Review: "Hidden Universe"

This recently released movie is currently showing at the Pink Palace Imax Theater in 3D format. A portion of the film chronicles the lives of the people who man and service the featured telescopes. Most of the earth bound telescope action takes place in the high arid Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Part of the story details of the location, operation and mechanics of the interesting variety of telescopes based there. Stars, galaxies and quasars are sumptuously projected in this great format. The film also overviews theories regarding the birth, life and death of featured celestial bodies.

Movie Review "Into The Woods"

An evil witch (Meryl Streep) assigns a childless baker and his wife (Emily Blunt) with finding four magical items that are needed to break a spell placed on the couple. The fairy tale story characters of Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack in the Beanstalk and Rapunzel all have tasks that requires their entering “into the woods.” This film is a combination of Broadway style musical, fantasy and comedy. The story develops in an interesting way until about thirty minutes before the end of the movie. The movie would have been well served to have stopped short of it’s ending. The last thirty minutes were puzzling. It seems as if a different playwright added his own notions of how the stories should have ended. Characters suddenly mysteriously disappeared and did things that were not in keeping with the movie’s story line. Overall, this deconstruction of otherwise wonderful stories was a disappointment and missed opportunity.