From Maureen, who reports from my old work that Tara actually knows the words to “No More Genocide”, a song in the Rise up Singing Songbook. This card made me laugh. It’s also very pretty.
Month: November 2015
Postcard from Hawaii
The aunts are in Hawaii, and Aunt Pat reports that things are a little showery, but the shining sun is also out and about. There are also two kitties who lounge around their lanai.
Three sentence movie reviews: All the President’s Men
There’s a new podcast I’m excited about* and so I watched this film (finally).** I loved a lot of the camera work*** and the slow diligence of getting all the ducks in a line. While not super action-packed by today’s standards, it did ratchet up the tension and it was fun to watch Hoffman & Redford together.
Cost: $2.99 via Amazon Play. (I didn’t even check first at the video store. I just streamed. Sigh. I’m part of the problem.)
Where watched: at home, on my desktop.
*It’s called “The Next Picture Show” and (according to them) it’s where a Movie of the Week meets the movie of the day. In the first episode they featured this movie and paired it with the new release Spotlight.
**Though I have read the book.
***Slow pan while doing research in the Library of Congress!!
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/1976/all_the_presidents_men.html
(fold lines!)
Changes in store for the tea
On the right, the old. On the left, the new.
I find myself liking the new design and the old design simultaneously.
Three sentence movie reviews: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Once, long ago, in the throws of a depression, I watched a movie called Last Night and man, did it stick with me in a god-I-hated-and-was-disturbed-by-that-movie kind of way. But it’s also made me continually seek out end-times movies just to see if there is anything better. This was well acted and engaging,* but still left me with the completely depressed feeling that all is not well.**
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.
*Although it skimped on a ton of detail. Where were they getting their gas? I can’t imagine gas station attendants would still be coming to work.
**I should perhaps give up thinking that such movies can be anything but depressing.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2012/seeking_a_friend_for_the_end_of_the_world.html
Three sentence movie reviews: Next Stop Wonderland
I ran across this movie on a list of really great romantic comedies you haven’t seen* and I ordered it because the library had it. This movie epitomizes two things: 90s’s independent film** and dating in Boston when in your 20s.*** I remember adoring the soundtrack and the structure of the movie, and, sadly, neither one of those things lived up to my memories.****
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.
*Although I saw it in the theater when it came out in 1998. Something went wrong with the sound, so the first couple of minutes were spent getting them to fix the sound, and then listening to people argue with the attendant that they should just start the movie over. He wouldn’t (or couldn’t) and drink coupons were passed around, though I never got one. There was much grumbling. So this viewing, I finally heard what was said in the first few minutes.
**And man, did we put up with some not-so-great film technique when watching 90s independent films. Viewing it from this decade, I found the shoddy film making and iffy acting rather distracting. (Although Hope Davis and Philip Seymour Hoffman were fine.)
***Like Hope Davis’s character, Boston wasn’t a great town for dating for me, either. But I was enchanted with the depiction of smoking in bars–I had forgotten we could do that–and just how not great looking the guys she dated were. Also, I used to drink at the Bern, which is her go-to bar. It wasn’t my go-to bar, but probably second-tier.
****Which doesn’t mean I totally pan it, but I would say it’s a so-so movie, and worth watching as a time capsule.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/1998/next_stop_wonderland.html
Three sentence movie reviews: 42
Overall an interesting, well acted movie that illuminates the terrible trials* Mr. Robinson was put through in order to play baseball. Harrison Ford manages not to be annoying.** I felt like it could have been 20 minutes shorter.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.
*One of the terrible trials involved the Phillies’s manager repeatedly saying horribly racist things as Jackie Robinson was at bat. I recognized the actor, but couldn’t place him. It turned out to be Alan Tudyk, who I most identify as Wash in the tragically cancelled Serenity series.
**This movie is packed with where-have-I-seen-that-guy? white men. Some of which include the guy who played Billy Riggins on Friday Night Lights (Derek Phillips) and the not-Paul-Walker guy from Fast & Furious Tokyo Drift (Lucas Black)
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2013/forty_two.html
Three sentence movie reviews: The Intern
I expected to like this movie okay, and was surprised to find that I loved it. It’s a meditation on balancing work and family as well as a primer for being a very good old person.* Enjoyable from start to finish, with few clinkers, this is a grownup movie that you can watch with your parents and grandparents.
Cost: free due to gift card
Where watched: Regal Bridgeport Village Theater with my mom. (My first time. Boy, did I hate Bridgeport Village. However, once we got inside, the theater was like every other Regal Cinema)
*There was an essay rolling around in my head inspired by the movie, but I never got it on paper and the moment has passed.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2015/intern.html
I’m pretty sure Hathaway never wore this dress in the movie. For the head of a clothing company, none of her clothing was very flashy, which I thought worked well with the kind of clothing she was selling.
Three sentence movie reviews: Words & Pictures
This is a slow-burn love story with people who are crusty and have problems.* It’s also a very good teacher movie and written for smart people. Mark this down for the Very Good Grown-up Movie category.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home, after a tough day when there was nothing to do but collapse on the couch with a good movie.
*Overall, I loved this movie. I didn’t, however, love the ending.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/words_and_pictures.html
The sad tale of the beets
They were planted in the spring and managed to grow through a drier-than-normal summer even without supplemental water. I harvested them today, carefully cleaned them and sliced them to roast so I could eat them with goat cheese on a pizza.
Sadly, I forgot they were still roasting when I kicked the oven up to 550 degrees to heat the pizza stone and they became little bits of beet flavored charcoal.
Sorry beets. I wish I would have given you a better ending.