December 2019 – Out & About

Top Movies December 2019

(14 movies watched)
(It was the best movie month of 2019!)

Little Women

So good to watch; looking forward to a rewatch.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Eschew the biopic!

Picture Books

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
William Steig

Picture books in the late 1960s had so many words!

Sylvester learns to be careful what you wish for.

Freedom Soup
Tami Charles & Jacqueline Alcántara
Read for Librarian Book Group

Belle Learns how to make Freedom Soup, and I have a new New Year’s Day activity to try. Great illustrations.

What Color is Night?
Grant Snider
Read for Librarian Book Group

Grant Snider is an orthodontist by day, but during the early morning hours he wrote an illustrated this look at colors on display when the sun isn’t up. As a person who is up long before the sun for many months of the year, this resonated with me.

I enjoyed both the word usage and the illustrations.

Young Adult

Pet
Akweke Emez
Read for Librarian Book Group

It’s the future and everything is okay! No one lives in fear because all the monsters (drug abuse, child abuse, violence, etc.) have been vanquished.

But one day a creature appears saying there is still a monster to hunt.

The fable-like quality was distancing and one character’s large family was introduced in a jumble that was hard to follow. Still, the book has an interesting premise, was packed with all sorts of characters outside of the straight/white arena, and was very short, so I kept reading.

Mooncakes
Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker
Read for Librarian Book Group

A witch & werewolf love story and mystery. Excellent blushing throughout.

The Downstairs Girl
Stacy Lee
Read for Librarian Book Group

I’ve missed a book since Under a Painted Sky, but I’ll have to loop back because Stacy Lee has got the historical fiction thing going on!

Atlanta, late 1800s and Jo Kuan has just lost her job at a millinery shop. I loved the historical details and reading historical fiction from a Chinese-American perspective. I figured out a few things before they happened, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of this novel.

“The knowledge that the person to whom I am writing is also writing just one floor above me makes my shadow sit up straighter, and if shadows had smiles, I might see one reflected there.”

13 Doorways, Wolves Behind them All
Laura Ruby
Read for Librarian Book Group

I’m all about books set in orphanages, so that was a win. This book has two main characters, Frankie, the orphan and then also the ghost who checked in on Frankie and others.

Ultimately, while both of the characters’ stories were interesting, weaving them together diluted them and left me less interested in the book as a whole.

The stories didn’t seem to be building to anything even as they both were.

There were great period details and I liked all the characters, so it wasn’t for naught.

Pumpkinheads
Rainbow Rowell & Faith Erin Hicks
Read for Librarian Book Group

Despite many good experiences with graphic novels, I still approach them with a sigh. I have to look at pictures to find out what’s going on? I can’t just look at text?

However, this was a delightful graphic novel, from the map of the best pumpkin patch in the end papers to the zany last-day-of-work quest that happens within in the pages.

I’ve made a mental note to visit the Omaha area during pumpkin patch season. And I need to make some Frito Pie!

Ordinary Hazards
Nikki Grimes
Read for Librarian Book Group

A memoir in verse about Grimes’ harrowing childhood. I’m glad she made it through and we get the gift of her poems.

It’s also a good reminder to not write off abused and neglected children.

Fun fact: she gave herself the name Nikki.

American Girls
Alison Umminger

A re-read because I was in the mood for a subplot about hanging out on set with twin TV stars and because I love Alison Umminger’s writing so much!

I actually went looking to read her next book, but found she hasn’t yet published one. Hopefully something good is coming soon.

The Fountains of Silence
Ruta Sepetys
Read for Librarian Book Group

This time, Ruta Sepetys takes us to 1950s Spain, where Franco is the dictator. We get the story of David, who is from a wealthy Texas oil family, visiting Madrid with his family, and Ana, who works at the Madrid hotel where David is staying.

As always, Sepetys’s fiction is engrossing and all encompassing, and I felt like I was living in the steamy Madrid summer every time I picked up the book.

Like many people, I only have the barest hint of understanding of what Spain was like under Franco, so this book filled in a lot of gaps. Learning and a good story. That’s what makes Ruta Sepetys so great!

Young Nonfiction

The Women Who Caught the Babies
Eloise Greenfield & Daniel Minter
Read for Librarian Book Group

Some information about African American midwives kicks off the book followed by short poems with gorgeous illustrations.

The photos from the informative first part are from a publicly available documentary that looks interesting.

Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace
Ashley Bryan
Read for Librarian Book Group

Ashley Bryan served in World War II with the 502nd Port Battalion which was a part of a Company C, comprised of all Blacks. He still has his letters home, and the sketches and drawings he made during the war.

Together, his memories of the war, the drawings and the sketches, and photographs tell his story of war, which included storming the beach on D-Day.

This is a great first-person account of World War II and should not be missed.

Grownup Nonfiction

Being Mortal
Atul Gawande

Most of us will experience declines in our health and well being before we die. Dr. Gawande thinks we should start talking about this. I agree.

This is a book that is engaging, both in subject matter and in writing style. Let’s start talking about end of life stuff more often. Start today.

Make Time
Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky

I’m a focused, productive person who likes to see how much more I can focus and be productive. I can see this method would work well for scattered people who would like to become more focused.

The section called Energy was a great addition. It’s always good to be reminded that we’re not just bodies to carry around our brains.

Uncut Gems Never Stops

The review:

Benny and Josh Safdie’s Uncut Gems had me so amped up that by the end, I don’t think a restorative yoga class combined with a massage could have calmed me down.* While not a movie to unwind with, this is a crazy good movie you should watch for the acting,** and the overly oppressive environment depicted. Prepare yourself for uncertainty; there were several times that I asked myself, “How in the world is this film ever going to end?”

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: $9.75
Where watched: Living Room Theater (Part II of New Year’s Eve Double Feature!)

Consider also watching:

Hanna
Requiem for a Dream (though Danger Will Robinson!, this movie is rough)
Point Break
Training Day
The Departed

Further sentences:

*This movie never stops. Adam Sandler never stops talking. He never stops scheming. He doesn’t stop working every angle he can. And the people coming after him are similarly persistent.
**Will Adam Sandler win an Oscar for this? I could see it. Julia Fox as Sandler’s girlfriend also hits all the notes of the twinkie in the city. LaKeith Stanfield is always reliable, in this case as a guy who brings the rich black guys to Sandler’s store. Idina Menzel was super interesting as Sandler’s wife. She savvy, which feels like a departure from what the wife character tends to default to. Oh! And Judd Hirsch has a small role too.

Questions:

If you had to spend time with one of the characters in this movie, who would you choose?
What other comedians do you like in dramatic roles?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The first draft of the script was written in 2009. In 2012, the Safdie Brothers gave Adam Sandler the screenplay, which he declined. After that, they considered Harvey Keitel and Sacha Baron Cohen for the role of Howard before the Safdie Brothers decided the part needed a younger actor like first intended. When the movie got financed after the success of Good Time in 2017, the role went to Jonah Hill, then back to Sandler in 2018.

(I often marvel that any movie ever gets made)

Other reviews:

Pearl Bakery, RIP

The Pearl Bakery has closed.

My heart is sad. For nine years it provided me with sandwiches when I had no lunch, rolls with pats of butter when I had the hankering, and cookies when I needed a pick-me-up.

When I switched jobs and the Pearl Bakery was no longer in the same block, I still would wander down from time to time for a treat.

I loved their chocolate chip cookies, which had chunks of chocolate, bits of pecan (I usually don’t like nuts in my chocolate chip cookies) and orange flavor (I’m usually anti-fruit flavor in cookies) and were chewy and divine.

I have a current quest to make a chocolate shortbread as good as the Pearl Bakery’s. How can I complete this quest if I can’t continue to purchase a chocolate shortbread as a test case?

They had a black pepper and walnut bread that was amazing. I loved their multigrain rolls. Their roast beef and horseradish sandwich was delicious.

I will never eat any of those things again.

Their service was, well, not outstanding. I never felt like they wanted me to buy what they were selling. But what they were selling was so good, I didn’t mind.

One time, a parent gave a teacher a $200 gift certificate to the Pearl Bakery as a gift. (This was before we clamped down on that kind of giving.) I got a few free sandwiches when she treated me.

The Pearl Bakery was always a treat. I will miss them.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood has the Right Focus

The review:

As I discovered last year with the documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor, Mr. Rogers has a calming and cathartic effect on me; in Marielle Heller’s* A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, it seems that Tom Hanks playing Mr. Rogers has the same effect. I think this movie was wise to avoid the biopic treatment and instead frame the story around a journalist who has a lot of problems which lets us substitute our own selves in for him as Fred Rogers takes an interest. It’s also full of actors I love to watch** and includes many memorable scenes.***

The verdict: Good

Cost: $9.75 (I didn’t plan well. I could have seen this at the Jubitz theater for $6)
Where watched: Living Room Theater (Part I of New Year’s Eve Double Feature!)

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*This film follows Heller’s excellent Can You Ever Forgive Me? which was her second feature after her incredibly enjoyable debut The Diary of a Teenage Girl. All of these films are worth your time. And hopefully Heller will continue directing films every other year or so.
**I’m always up for Chris Cooper and Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars!) and though I wasn’t familiar with them I thought Matthew Rhys, Susan Kelechi Watson and Maryann Plunkett were excellent.
***Some of which show up in the article that is featured in the film and which you can read. My favorite scene though, was Fred and Joanne Rogers playing a duet on the twin grand pianos in their home.

Questions:

What is it about Mr. Rogers that elicits such feelings?
What’s your favorite Mr. Rogers moment?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

This movie is based on the article “Can You Say…’Hero’?” by Tom Junod, which was published in the November 1, 1998, issue of Esquire Magazine. In 2019, before the release of this film, Junod wrote an article in The Atlantic that was partly about this process. It started, “A long time ago, a man of resourceful and relentless kindness saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. He trusted me when I thought I was untrustworthy, and took an interest in me that went beyond my initial interest in him. He was the first person I ever wrote about who became my friend, and our friendship endured until he died. Now a movie has been made from the story I wrote about him, which is to say ‘inspired by’ the story I wrote about him, which is to say that in the movie my name is Lloyd Vogel and I get into a fistfight with my father at my sister’s wedding. I did not get into a fistfight with my father at my sister’s wedding. My sister didn’t have a wedding.”

Other reviews:

Best Photos 2019

Here’s this year’s retrospective.

Jim and Eileen waiting around before the Pride parade.

Sentinel reminding me that one of my duties is to feed him.

My seven a.m. trek to the Max. Only two other people had come before me.

Original hardware and glimpse of staircase at the AirBnB I stayed in when visiting Minneapolis. (Currently winning the award: City with the largest number of houses that leave me weak in the knees.)

Some chit-chat after SKS’s dissertation, with Barbie finding a nook to overlook the proceedings.

My favorite example of the mish-mash of change in Minneapolis. Foreground: 1950s-era basic building; middle ground, front: original house that makes me weak in the knees; middle ground back: newer office building; background: the prow of the new stadium.

The best picture I have of the hard work paying off, plus a reminder of how very good those cakes were.

My favorite People Taking Pictures photo of the year.

Sentinel enjoying the sun and fresh air on the back catio.

Our first visit to the Oregon Country Fair

My favorite representation of fair goers.

Baseball magic.

Redwoods magic.

My favorite performance this year: the Ukel Aliens at the Humboldt County Fair.

Best capture of how much fun making music together is.

4-H pig competition.

The best thing to come out of the endless building construction project of 2019.

My favorite Halloween costumes this year.

SKS Postcards from San Francisco

This postcard opens with “What do you think? When was this taken?”

Look at those white shorts and that hair! I agree with Sara’s call that this picture is from the 90s. She reports that everyone they’ve seen on the cable cars has had their phones out and on.

This next postcard is from the same day. It’s a very classic postcard message of what they were up to.

It sounds like a fun day of wandering, especially the de Young Sculpture garden.

But more importantly, this postcard marks the transition from postcard stamps being shells. Sara and I have both hated the shells and they seem to have been holding on as the postcard stamp for a much longer time than previous choices. Now we are into the tropical fish!

I’m not sure, but she may have bought a roll of 100 postcard stamps just to avoid another round of shells.

Some More House

Pardon the lens cover stealing some thunder here.

Here’s a cute little bungalow.

That gets a little less little when you look at it from the side.

Crow Coffee Hour

Sometimes you just need to do some catching up. Even if you are a crow.

Little Women: The Millennial Version

The review:

By eschewing a linear narrative, Greta Gerwig manages to make the twists and turns of Little Women* into something I want to watch more than once.** As I watched the 1994 version in August, I’m heavy on the comparisons/contrasts,*** but I think this movie did what was needed to be done to the story to make this one of the best movies I’ve seen in 2019. It’s a film full of life and laughter and tears, not to mention several versions of cross-in-front sweater wraps (not quite these, but close****) that I need the pattern for.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: $9.00 (and I had to go to the theater two days in a row because the first day was sold out)
Where watched: Hollywood Theater with an audience who gasped aloud in places, proving they hadn’t recently watched the 1994 version.

Consider also watching:

Little Women 1994
Frozen
Your Sisters Sister
Sense and Sensibility
The Virgin Suicides

Further sentences:

*A story I’ve never liked.
**True story: after the movie ended, I checked my bus arrival time, found it wasn’t coming for another 17 minutes, and snuck into the later showing so I could experience whatever scene I encountered once again.
***See below for my drilldown
****For those of you who are interested, here’s a handy article about how to steal the movie’s style without looking like an extra in a period piece.

Questions:

Which version do you think comes out on top? Aside from 2019 and 1994, there’s also the 2018 present-day one, the 2017 PBS one, the 1949 June Alyson one, and the 1933 Katherine Hepburn one (which I mostly remember because the sleeves were out of control!)
Which of the sisters are you?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Although they portray heroines of American literature, none of the four actors are American. Emma Watson and Florence Pugh are English, Saoirse Ronan is Irish, and Eliza Scanlen is Australian.

Other reviews:

1994 vs. 2019:

Meg: Trini Alvarado beats Emma Watson
Jo: Tie. I like both Winona Ryder and Saoirse Ronan for different reasons
Beth: Claire Danes knocks Eliza Scanlen out of the park. (I think Claire Danes is the best part of the 90s version.)
Amy: Kristen Dunst as young Amy beats Florence Pugh. Pugh did a good job acting younger, but she didn’t look younger. Dunst takes the win there. Florence Pugh beats out Samantha Mathis as older Amy. Best Florence Pugh scene: telling Laurie no.
Laurie: Christian Bale beats out Timothée Chalamet simply because Timothée Chalamet looks incredibly youthful and thus I didn’t fully believe he was grownup Laurie. Who did I enjoy watching more? Chalamet.
Marmee: Tie. Susan Sarandon brings more gravitas than Laura Dern, though Dern is not saddled with all that moralizing. She’s a hippie-style Marmee.
Aunt March: Meryl Streep beats out Mary Wickes (you know, because she’s Meryl Streep)
Professor Bhaer: Gabriel Byrne (IMDB has him ranked second in the casting lineup!) beats out Louis Garrel. Though I think the much older Byrne was closer in age (44 at time film) to the Professor Behr in the book (The internet is telling me 40) Louis Garrel is 36, but he doesn’t look it.
Mr. Lawrence: Tie. Both John Neville and Chris Cooper are good
Hannah: Florence Paterson beats out Jayne Houdyshell

The 1994/2019 verdict:

1994: 6 wins, 3 ties
2019: 2 wins, 3 ties
Yet somehow I enjoyed the 2019 version so much more! Directing matters!

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