U-S-A
It doesn’t compare to the winter suffering of millions in the blizzard-ravaged Midwest and Northeast, but it was bad. I just saw steamy “Wuthering Heights” sitting next to my mother-in-law.
Here is how it happened. A fan since college of the tragic 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, and original 1939 film starring Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon, I was less reluctant than usual to see this remake of a tragic romance, so I tagged along with wife Erica, 16-year-old niece Georgia, and Erica’s mom Nancy.
The remake, starring Margot Robbie and heartthrob Jacob Elordi is currently the number one movie in the country, and the theater was packed with women of all ages, and me.
We couldn’t get seats together, so Erica sat me next to mom Nancy and herself next to niece Georgia several rows away. It was okay for a while, but became increasingly uncomfortable after Heathcliff returned from America, only to find his paramour, Catherine, engaged to another man.
Rather than just agonizing and unlike the original film, this version concentrates on the wild, clandestine sex that ensues between Robbie’s Catherine and Elordi’s Heathcliff. They do it in the barn, on the mountaintop, in the kitchen, on horseback, this way and that.
When things got crazy, I excused myself and went down to the lobby bar that the movie theater gratefully provided. It was empty until two ladies who had just seen “Melania, the Documentary,” sat down and started gushing over the torrid “Wuthering Heights,” which they had seen earlier.
Figuring it was the lesser of two discomforts, I returned to my seat and toughed out the bitter end of the movie. The moral of this story, I should have stayed home and watched the Olympics.
Speaking of which, the Winter Games in the stunning Italian Alps were great.
As usual, the pageantry and athleticism were breathtaking. What my old boss, the late, great Roone Arledge, called “The Joy of Victory, the Agony of Defeat,” was the theme throughout.
In skiing, one of the greatest of all time, 41-year-old Lindsey Vonn, was literally in agony after attempting to compete just a week after suffering a torn ACL.
She then broke her leg in a violent crash that was difficult to watch. Critics said she should have sat out these games and focused on her health. She’s had a Hall of Fame career and will always be remembered as a winner despite the tough way it ended.
Perennial World Cup skiing champion and three-time Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin came back after an early wipe-out to triumph in the slalom and became the first Olympian to win gold medals 12 years apart.
She did it at age 18 and then again at age 30. Calm, confident and understated, Shiffrin is one of the greatest skiers of all time. She is so good she could come back four years from now and do it again.
Talking about comebacks, none can match the incomparably ebullient Alysa Liu, the Gen Z figure skater who hung up her skates only to come back and change skating forever last week in Italy.
She won Gold with a performance that was as exhilarating as it was original. Her refusal to be a traditional “Ice Princess” rigidly controlled by her parents or coaches, and skate joyfully and generously, was unforgettable.
On the last day of competition, last Sunday, the USA won the men’s ice hockey gold medal for the first time since 1980.
It was 46 years to the day after the “Miracle on Ice,” when our team of mostly amateur, college-age hockey players defeated the mighty pros of the Soviet Union. This time, every team was made up of pros on leave from the NHL. We beat Canada to win Gold, thanks in large part to our goalie, Connor Hellebuyck, who had 41 saves in the 2-1 overtime victory.
