No, it’s neither new nor classic as it was made in 2002. Road to Perdition is a dark period piece set during the Great Depression about gangsters. Paul Newman, Tom Hanks, and Stanley Tucci are the big names. It is a violent, tragic movie and having Tom Hanks play the role of a killer for mob boss Paul Newman is not the norm for either of them. The acting, however, is masterful and the manner in which the movie is filmed. I am not a student of cinematography and am not certain of the proper terms to use.

In the final phases, there is one incredibly powerful scene between Newman and Hanks and then two scenes that take approximately five minutes where there are only four lines of dialogue. The expressions from the veteran actors and actions tell the story in a taut way. The remaining part of the movie contains a final tragedy and from a philosophical perspective the question remains as to, “Can a man who undeniably does wrong still be a good man?” The other underlying question is, “How much is a man shaped by his circumstances?”

It is similar in tone to LA Confidential if you’re familiar with that one. While I prefer Newman and Hanks to play good guys – or at least not criminals – I could see the appeal of this movie and the roles for actors who wanted to portray complexity. Even though it was violent, it was not marred by graphic violence which I find to be utterly unnecessary. Definitely not something to watch if you’re looking for light entertainment, but well worth it if what you want is a well-crafted movie from all aspects.

Although my goal is to post three times a week, as anyone who follows the blog knows, I have gaps. The lapse is generally due to extra hectic days and this week it was sort of that. I had a couple of afternoons where I had to link together additional tasks or meetings which took me into the evening hours and quite frankly I ran out of energy.

Yesterday was slightly different as I was able to get out to dive. The situation though was it was a crowded boat (it is that time of year) and that generally causes things to be somewhat delayed, then there was a major downpour on the way home, plus a wreck being cleared to further delay things and a couple of other things thrown into the bargain. That took care of me being able to post yesterday,

Surface conditions going out to the dive sites were almost flat and there was basically no current on the dives. While there weren’t many “big things” – that means turtles, rays, eels, sharks, and so forth – there were a lot of fish that I enjoy. Visibility was better on the first dive which was on one of the sections of French Reef, then we moved to the wreck of the Benwood; the genuine WW II wreck I’ve written about before. The visibility was down which is a common occurrence on the wreck because there can be lots of particulate matter in the water from rotting wood, bits of marine vegetation breaking loose, and other factors. Hubby did find a large puffer; always something to enjoy. He apparently also found an eel, but I didn’t know that until later. He had to work the afternoon dive which meant we didn’t get to share a leisurely lunch after, but again, it is starting the time of year when diving is the best and most popular. Oh, they did get hit with that thunderstorm on the way out the the Spiegel Grove and moved out of it as they neared the site for good weather the rest of the dive.

In two opposite of sizes, mature puffers are large and the bright blue chromis are only a few inches long, but are really pretty.

Two puffers from previous dives; don;t remember when.

Chromis are seen on most of the local reefs.

Emotional content alert. If you have followed the posts with me all these years, or even fairly recently, you know I do cross into occasional emotional areas either through musing or making a specific point. Several individuals on Facebook have recently experienced the passing of loved ones. It is difficult and even though we all understand we will lose our parents or another older relative/friend someday, the time and quite frankly the manner of, is painful. In some cases, it is somewhat sudden, in others the pain is worsened with lingering and debilitating illness.

We are coming up on the first anniversary of our father’s passing and in some ways, his decline was the “best” you can hope for. The unexpected part was the passing of my stepmother before him as statistically speaking most men don’t lose two wives. (My mother had always had health issues and actually passed away a few days before her 61st). However, the point with my father was even though he did have short-term memory problems, he had come to manage those and he never reached the stage to where he didn’t know who people were; he might call someone by a wrong name, but he knew them in context. After a mild stroke, he recovered quickly and did opt to use a wheelchair rather than try to go back to a cane or walker because he could get around easily in the chair, in and out of bed, etc., and he considered it to be more stable. The assisted living facility he was in was nothing fancy but well organized and staffed. He never had any kind of condition that caused him continuing pain and when I was back for his 95th birthday, my brother later used the term of “winding down”. The same was true for his 96th and not long after that, he was placed under hospice. This was a case of nothing specific; rather an administrative action to ease things for when the day came.

His 97th birthday did go as well as could be expected and he hung for about an hour in the gathering. It was a few months later when the call came that we thought was “it”. I relayed that in my blog posts then about how after rushing to get to Louisiana, he had rallied. He was seemingly unaware of why everyone had come in for a “surprise visit”. That did give us a chance to make/refine certain arrangements.The private time I had with him was mostly watching him sleep in his recliner, but that is normal in these situations. My stepsister and husband who lived in Texas were working remotely at the time. They stayed and the other “steps” lived in town or close by. The end came quietly a couple of weeks later. So for those going through grieving now, it does get better with time.

I saw somewhere this is the 80th anniversary year of “Casablanca”. Aside from always loving the movie, it was the first one Hubby and I watched together at his place. The actual first movie we saw together was the comedy “Outrageous Fortune” when we had our first official date. Anyway, back to Casablanca. In reading the background, they apparently had no idea it would be as big a hit as it was and certainly wouldn’t have anticipated it would endure for decades. From my perspective, it had the most memorable “one-liners” until “Big Chill” came out. And the terms of, “Of all of the gin joints in all of the world,”; “Here’s looking at you Kid,”; “We’ll always have Paris,”; :”Shocked, shocked, I’m shocked to find gambling going on,”; and “Louie, this may be the start of a beautiful friendship,” have been used so many times in so many ways. I doubt anyone even knows how many times the song has been played. I can’t imagine ever watching it without tearing up at the final scene between Rick and Elsa.

It is a such an interwoven story of love, drama, world events, good versus evil, personal sacrifice, and redemption. Not being in the world of film, I can’t speak to all the aspects that is studied from that perspective. As much as I enjoyed Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, etc., in other movies, if forced to choose, it would have to be Casablanca as my favorite. I don’t know if young people watch it these days, but I hope so. I’ll have to ask the kids when they come for their holiday visit which is now less than a month away.

It does involve a 14-pound turkey though. This is one of the first Thanksgivings in a while Hubby hasn’t been asked to work most of it and the friend who usually does Thanksgiving dinner for our “group” wasn’t going to be able to. Additionally, our “group” has shrunk with the recent relocation of one who usually also had his daughter and sometimes son-in-law along. We offered to do the holiday meal and Hubby was concerned about getting a turkey. We still weren’t entirely sure of how many were coming to lunch the day I went  to the store and I thought it best to go a bit larger rather than smaller. This is why we have a 14-pound turkey. Hubby has decided on using dry brine (I think it’s easier to deal with although I don’t intervene in such decisions) and to fry. I’ve explained the frying process before and it is a kind of cool part of the holiday plus makes for an excellent turkey. I’m not doing anywhere near the variety of dishes of some and am sticking with the classics of stuffing – well, it’s more like dressing since you can’t stuff a fried turkey – a small ham, mashed potato casserole, green bean casserole, rolls, gravy, and cranberry sauce. Neither of us are pumpkin fans so dessert is apple pie and a friend is bringing a lovely cheesecake with lemon curd. Another couple we’re friends with are going to drop by for dessert if she doesn’t get overwhelmed in preparing their evening holiday meal. Even though the group will be small, I will send two meals worth home with the friend who is bringing the cheesecake and cranberry sauce, send two meals worth of leftovers with the other friend and take one meal’s worth to another friend on Sunday. That does equate to eight meals, the only difference being three of them won’t include anyone going for seconds.

And as of this morning, the weather is to be sunny and up to 84 so we will be having lunch on the covered terrace,