Memorial Day, of course, is meant for decorating the graves of those who’ve served our country in the military. But it was always traditional in my family to put flowers on all our graves for the holiday. Being the only member of my immediate family who still lives around here, I carry the custom on, in my little way.

Memorial Day was cool and cloudy, threatening rain, here in the Twin Cities. But when I drove south to Kenyon and Faribault, where the bones of my fathers lie (metaphorically speaking; my parents are actually buried in Florida) I drove into bright sun and warmth that forced me to take my coat off. I had to put it on again when I got home. I had but crossed into and out of a stationary pressure ridge.

My brother was in town Friday night, and we went to see Indy 4. It was better than I expected, since I wasn’t expecting much. I liked the numerous digs at Communism—it’s been fifty years after all. About time Hollywood admits there were two sides in the Cold War. (Still waiting for the first Hollywood movie about the Ukrainian genocide, though.)

The worst part was Shia LeWhatever as the Marlon Brando wannabee. He plays the part with all the weight and authority of a runway model. And the scene where he swings through the jungle on vines, like Tarzan—painful. (You know, don’t you, that you can’t actually do that? Vines grow up from the ground. They don’t grow down from the treetops.)

And that was part of the overlong jungle chase scene. Not bad, but I am very weary of seeing large numbers of thugs firing automatic weapons at people with no effect whatever. I know it moves the story along, but what it really means is that the writers couldn’t figure out a clever way for the heroes to get away or to protect themselves, so they opted just to let them survive without explanation. Which is lazy.

The best part—Cate Blanchett as the evil Commie parapsychologist. The word “audacious” is being overused this year, but hers was a really audacious performance. She realized she was playing an over-the-top character, so she played the role over the top. Anybody can do that, but not everybody can make it work. She made it work. She won’t get an Oscar nomination for it, but she deserves one.

On Sunday I was in a Memorial Day mood, and I’d been enjoying Owen Parry’s marvelous Civil War mysteries featuring Abel Jones. So I pulled out my DVD of Gods and Generals. I had good memories of it, largely (I suppose) because it’s a rare example of a Hollywood film treating Christian characters with a measure of respect.

Sadly, it didn’t hold up on a second viewing. It’s probably great for a high school history class, but as a movie it was uninspired. Dull script, dull direction, dull cinematography, and not enough editing. It plays like a school pageant, with people making long speeches at each other for no particular reason, and confiding in one another without dramatic justification. And the dialogue sounded as if it was lifted from contemporary documents. That’s nice from an academic point of view, but it makes for stilted speeches. And I suspect that most people didn’t actually talk the way they wrote, even back then.

But it put me in mind of the right things.