Shining Through

Well tonight was pizza and a movie. Normally we'd be going to my hometown this weekend for the Neewollah festival in Independence, but with the schedule lately and the fact that my son is trying to get a job, I need all the at home time right now I can get.

So tonight we ordered Pizza Hut pizza and watched "Shining Through". It's the only rated R movie I've ever let my son see (we skip the brief sex scene) because of the content of the movie. With my mind back in the forties and World War II, I thought it was about time to get that one back out again, get a feel for the era and study the clothes.

This is one of my all-time favorite movies. It tells the story of an older woman recalling to a BBC reporter her experiences as an American spy planted in Germany during the war. Funny thing about it - she's a Jew seeking to go into the country that is rounding up and killing Jews or sending them to concentration camps. Due to her ability to speak fluent German, but against the wishes of her superior, she volunteers for the project when their double-agent is discovered and murdered.

They plant her behind enemy lines to act as a domestic cook to a wealthy and influential officer of the Third Reich. She was to dazzle them with her cooking skills. Problem was, she arrived with only two hours to prepare. The dinner was a disaster and she was summarily dismissed.

Walking home, she is picked up by the highest ranking officer in attendance at the dinner party. In desperate need of a nanny for his two children after the death of his wife, he encourages her to accept the post so he doesn't have to go through the endless paperwork to clear someone else (thinking she'd already been through a proper Gestapo check). She sees a briefcase with important papers sticking out and makes a critical decision.

That night she fell off the radar of the American spy network and accepted the position. For two months she watches and searches and waits until the right moment. The secret room in the basement finally shows itself and she secures the pictures of a German production facility developing self-propelled rockets and tracking systems in Peenemunde.

The problem - how does she get out of Germany with the information? The American network doesn't know where she is. Worse, could a friend have betrayed her? Will she be discovered before she can get safely away from the Nazis? Will it be the death of her and those she loves?

Yes, it's an older movie from the 80's (if I remember correctly) but an incredible movie about the sacrifices so many people were willing to make for freedom and the heartbreak and chaos caused when evil is allowed to run unchecked.

And just think - real people actually fought to keep not only America free but to give freedom back to those from whom it had been stripped.

A New TV Show - I'm Hooked!

I came across a completely different kind of TV show this week. It definitely engages my mind - literally!

Monday night we finished up our play rehearsal a little early. Made it home just before nine o'clock, said goodnight to my son and proceeded to do my workout on the treadmill.

I usually watch a little TV to make the time pass a bit faster when I work out. Started on Channel 2 and proceeded to flip my way through the channels to see if there was anything interesting. Boy, I'll say there was.

Apparently I happened to catch the very first episode of a new show - "My Own Worst Enemy". Had Christian Slater as the lead character. That immediately grabbed my attention. I used to think he was hot when I was younger. He played in a movie, something about Billie Jean and had Helen Slater in it (no relation).

This sucker is so cool (except for the gratuitous sex scene at the beginning - this is television now days? Where've I been?), and engaged my brain all the way through it. Supposedly this guy, Edward, is a super-spy, speaks 13 different languages, can hold his breath underwater for five minutes, received the Congressional Medal of Honor, you name it. However, when he gets back from a mission they put the normal side of his brain to sleep and awaken his alter ego personality, Henry, a loving husband with two children who know nothing of his "dark" side.

Sort of a take on the Jekyll and Hyde thing I guess.

Anyway, the programming starts to go south and they lose control over when Henry is awake and when Edward is awake. Henry awakens right in the middle of Edward's assassination mission and can't figure out how he ended up in Russia with a sniper rifle in his hands.

Eventually Edward (who volunteered for this project 19 years before) communicates with Henry to try to save his/their life because the bad guy Edward was supposed to assassinate in Russia is coming after him/them. Edward mails a CD recording of himself to Henry with a message. The end of this particular episode is Henry sending Edward a CD recording of himself to thank him for the message that ultimately saved his/their life.

It's a little confusing, but I've got to say that Christian Slater does a masterful job of switching between the two personalities. You can see his facial expressions change before your eyes when he is Henry the docile businessman and then becomes Edward the cutthroat spy.

Needless to say, I'm kinda glad we're not having rehearsal this coming Monday night. I just may have to dust off my old blank VHS tapes and start taping this thing until the play is over with. Don't want to miss a single episode if I can help it.

It's been almost 16 years since I last followed a TV show. Maybe it's okay to start up again.