THE BEST MOVIE ENDINGS OF ALL TIME

 The news of the day:

• 70% of American adults have taken at least one shot, finally hitting Biden's target, but about a month late.  

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  However, keep in mind that the 0-11 age group has not yet been vaccinated, and they represent 15% the U.S. population.  
• This means that the unvaccinated figure is slightly higher than 40%.

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  According to my posting yesterday, the Delta variant means herd immunity is at 92%.  We are thus today below 60%.
• Some states have returned to mandatory masking.
• While we are a humane country and don't want our citizens in jeopardy, those vaccinated are actually being discriminated against.

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  What about allowing the vaccinated full freedom to not wear masks and letting them enter theaters, restaurants, cruise ships, airplanes and the like, while preventing those unvaccinated from these privileges?
• More and more mandates are actually being invoked, and found by the courts to be legal.
• But you say, some unvaccinated will find a way to circumvent the system.  I say, fine, they will only be endangering themselves.

• The seven-day new deaths per day figure has increased into the mid 300's.  
• How bad is that.  Well, 10% of the rate at our peak, so not terrible.  In fact, good.   

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  When some groups, like Republicans, get convinced to save their own lives by being vaccinated, all school children are approved for inoculation and the Feds get around to announcing that vaccines are officially safe, we'll see lower death numbers by the end of the year.
• However, keep in mind that we need to get the deaths/day down to around 100 to match the annual casualty rate for the seasonal flu, which is around 35,000/year.
• 
  The governors of our two largest states are in trouble:
• Gavin Newsom of California is being recalled.  But not to worry, for bettors place his removal at odds of 1/10, meaning that for every $10 bet, they win a dollar.
• Andrew Cuomo of New York might lose his job, and, if not, will not be a political force anymore.

• 
  Simone Biles finally competed, and won a Bronze to two Chinese balance beam silver and gold medalists.  Simone commented on her personal victory.  USA, the overwhelming favorite to win more medals in Tokyo, is being challenged by China with four full days of competition left.

• 
  Ever watch nine straight hours of golf on TV?   Turn to the Golf Channel.  You have another chance beginning today when the women begin  competing in the Tokyo Summer Olympics.  My golf predicting skills are abominable, but my favorite is Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand.

I fell into my subject of the day because during the past ten days--dominated by the Tokyo Summer Olympics--I actually watched only the finish of several films, one of them coincidentally, yet purposefully, twice.  Since July 23 not once have I gone to Netflix or Prime.

Flipping around channels, I saw left was 20 minutes of the 1999 Notting Hill, given 83/79 scores by Rotten Tomatoes.  What a happy ending.  No need for details, except it starred Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.  You either saw it or not, liked it or not.

However, towards the end of that movie, mention is made of the 1993 Sleepless in Seattle, another production where the conclusion was everything.  Rotten Tomatoes scores of 79/79.  So what immediately happened was that in changing channels I saw that SiS was close to termination.  So I quickly went there and saw the final few minutes, with background music of An Affair to Remember.  Ah, another happy ending. That was 28 years ago.

Then last night, seeking the best of the Games, again, here it was, 20 minutes to the end of Notting Hill.  So I watched it again.  Gimmee Some Loving.  That was the French version.  Also the conclusion of She by Elvis Costello, referring to Julia Roberts.  Songs can make a film.  Music was the memorable difference.

Having gone through all that, I went on yesterday to view the conclusion of the 1942 Casablanca (RT:  99/95).   There was a light reference to As Time Goes By, followed by a Marseilles ending, a happy, but bittersweet finish.  No particular memorable tune, but yet another clip, Shawshank Redemption (RT: 91/98) had a most satisfying denouement.  I'm not known to just watch the ending of films.  That walk on the beach for Morgan Freeman to meet up with Tim Robbins was an ultimate redemption.  However, what should have been Zihuatenejo, Mexico was Sandy Point Beach, St. Croix in the Caribbean.  But what a grand series of coincidental endings, all in a couple of days.

Then I thought, happy and memorable, with just the right song, might not necessarily make the best movie endings for everyone.  

• Here is CineFix's top 10.  23 minutes long, and definitely esoteric, with a strong European flavor.  This is somewhat surprising, as the link is to IGN (Imagine Games Network), which is international, but headquartered in the U.S.

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  Perhaps WatchMojo's top 20 most satisfying movie endings of all-time might be a better fit for you, if you're from the USA.  This one is 20 minutes long.
• WatchMojo also has a 10-minute 10 Most Iconic Movie Endings.

I'll close with two from Snoopy:

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