War Horse

War Horse was a very good movie with many beautiful scenes of horses and a beautiful country scenes as well as seeing the devastation of war. The story of this magnificent horse who escaped dying numerous times through his earlier training and luck was very good. We see the evil of war and a son grows to understand his father through his experience in war.

The biggest problem is this film was it was too long. It was almost 2 1/2 hours long. There were many parts to this horse story and they were all good. Maybe the various pieces could have been tightened.

I really enjoyed the performances of Jeremy Irvine and Emily Watson. I also liked the grandfather who made jam.

In this WW I picture, we see how devastating war is--now and in the past. I liked the picture.

Nebraska Nellie

The Iron Lady

Meryl Streep is another amazing actor. It's unbelievable how she is able to transform herself into her character and she certainly did so with Margaret Thatcher. Wow! She looked like Thatcher. She sounded like Thatcher. She was Thatcher.

This Iron Lady was inspiring and I wish we had someone so inspiring to be running for president here in the US. The daughter of a grocer understood how to run her country and it's easy to see why President Reagan thought so highly of her.

I enjoyed Thatcher's husband and the young Thatcher was also excellent. If you want to be inspired by a great story, see Iron Lady.

Nebraska Nellie

The Descendents

Today I am going to review some movies I've seen the last two weekends. I love classic movies and it's great to see the movies that are nominated for Oscars. When the theatres were owned by Douglas, they worked with Make a Wish and held Oscar parties as a big fund raiser each year. It was such fun and I miss it.

The Descendants was very good and, to me, George Clooney is one of the few true current "movie stars" in the classic movie tradition. He's an excellent actor and handsome in the Cary Grant way.

George Clooney's character was complex, as were the two girls who played his daughters. Clooney's family is a mess and you see how they evolve through the tragic circumstances of his wife's affair and death.

The movie was excellent and I recommend it to everyone.

Good luck at the Oscars, George.

Nebraska Nellie

Noxious Weed 2 at Rockford

Rockford State Recreation Area

A new addition to my noxious weed collection.

Nebraska Nellie

Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge

Saturday I went with a friend to Squaw Creek NWR. The day was a beautiful day for January. It was sunny and the temperature was in the 40's. We went in search of eagles and found them. To see eagles soaring above you is a beautiful sight. We saw them flying and sitting in trees. We have plans to do more birding at the earliest opportunity.

Nebraska Nellie

Happy 100th Birthday Robert Taylor

Good morning. Today is Robert Taylor's 100th birthday and Beatrice, Nebraska is having a big party for its home town celebrity.

On Monday, the mayor gave a proclamation declaring it Robert Taylor week. Tuesday night, the library hosted a showing of Camille to a large crowd. Camille was one of his earliest films.

Thursday night the library had a book talk about the book, Camille, lead by Dr. Steve Shively.

Tonight starts the big events. A birthday dinner will be given at the Paddock Hotel serving some of Taylor's favorite foods. The program will include his children, Terry and Tessa Taylor; authors Linda Alexander, Charles Tranberg, and EA Krall; and film historian, Bruce Crawford. Following the program, Westward the Women will be shown at the Beatrice Community Playhouse.

The drawing above was done by Jean Schneller and was autographed by Taylor. She gave us permission to use it for our event.

Wish you could all be there with us.

Nebraska Nellie