What I Watched -- Sunset Boulevard

As I believe I have mentioned several times before, my knowledge of classic films is lacking. With C's help, and also occasional inspiration from Netflix, I'm slowly increasing my classic film repertoire.

Recently, Sunset Boulevard popped up in my queue, so I decided to give it a go.  One of the nice things about classic films, I have discovered, is that the plots tend to be fairly simple, so they're good to watch while you're doing other things.

This is the tale of an aged, once-famous actress, who refuses to believe or even acknowledge that her glamour days are behind her.  She catches a struggling writer in her web, by welcoming him in to her extravagant lifestyle in return for his assistance improving the screenplay she has attempted to write.  But once he's in, it becomes impossible for him to extricate himself.

Bottom line: worth seeing in light of my goal to improve my knowledge, but otherwise quite odd.

What I Watched -- Atonement

I watched Atonement recently.  I meant to read the book first, but, as my reading has been basically nil for the last several years, I gave up and decided to go for the movie instead.

I enjoyed it immensely.  I like the state of confusion that the viewer is in, right until the very end.  The start is simple enough.  We start with the wealthy Tallis family, which includes two girls (played by Kiera Knightley and Saoirse Ronan).  The younger of the two does something irrevocable relating to the love (James McEvoy) of the older one, and their relationship was severely damaged as a consequence.  

I don't want to say too much about it, for fear of giving something away, but most of the remainder of the movie is an analysis of events from different points of view, which is a film-making style that I just love.

The novel is by Ian McEwen, who is famous for his ability to both describe and evoke emotions, so now I'm really looking forward to the book, even though I know the end.

Bottom line: should have gotten to this one a lot sooner.

What I Watched -- The Power of One

I've seen The Power of One before, several times.  However, it has been years since the last time, so when S decided to watch it the other week, I sat down to watch it with him.

It is a thoughtful tale of a young boy named Peekay growing up in apartheid South Africa.  He learns the harsh realities of life, both as the oppressed and the oppressor. Much of his life's wisdom comes through an odd friendship with a German professor who is imprisoned for the duration of World War II. 

One of my favorite things about the movie is the music.  I love the rhythms and voices that are so evocative of Africa.

The movie is based on a book of the same name by Bryce Courtenay.

Bottom line: a good one to re-watch every few years.

Happy Birthday, S!

Juniper and the Fox

It seems that S and I cannot have a totally good evening out at the Fox.

Last year, S got us tickets to If/Then. I enjoyed the show more than he did, but it was not the best I had seen. However, we went to dinner and drinks beforehand at The Fountain on Locust, which I recall as being quite tasty - especially the drinks.

Last night, we went to dinner at Juniper before heading over to see A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder at the Fox Theater.

Juniper is known for their cocktails, and we each tried a flight. For the most part, they were pretty bland. S's favorite was the Put It in Your Purse; I liked the Cat's Pajamas.  Otherwise, not much to write home about, and they pretty much forgot to serve us the last round in the flight, so we had to make quick work of them while we were on our way out the door to the show.

S got the BLT, which was the winner as food selections went.  The bread was fluffy and delicious, the dressing tangy, and the pork belly delectable.  I had the fried green tomatoes, which I generally love and am always excited to try. These were a disappointment. The breading was so crispy that I had trouble getting through it even with a steak knife, and overall there was very little flavor - not in the breading the tomatoes, or the sauce. I also got a side of mac and cheese, which was tasty enough - I ate it all - but not nearly as good as its counterpart at Salt + Smoke.

We snagged a decent parking space at the Fox and made it to our seats in the last few seconds before they shut off the house lights.  The show was cute, and we both laughed.  Nothing deep or meaningful, but it made for a lovely evening.

What I Watched -- Into the Wild

I had been meaning to watch Into the Wild for some time.  I read the book ages ago, I think back in high school, but that didn't have much to do with why I wanted to see the movie.

I wasn't so interested in the speculation about what happened to Chris McCandless at the end as I was in the path he took to get where he ended up.  I knew from reading the book that he went on quite a journey before finding his way to Alaska, and I expected that there would be some lovely scenes in the movie -- which there were!  Some beautiful scenery shots of the west that make me want to head off on a road trip!

There was also some good music, written and performed by Pearl Jam.  I'm not a huge fan, but you may recall my concert-going experience several years ago, and I can now at least appreciate them.  They settled down a bit and did some quieter stuff for the movie, which was perfect for it.

Bottom line: A moderately entertaining, and fairly lovely, distraction, but not much more than that.

Sherlock

I ran out of Orange is the New Black, so now I've started on Sherlock as my next binge series.  I love Benedict Cumberbatch, especially his name (see here and here) and sense of humor.

So far, I am loving it, but it requires a bit more attention than Orange, which means there are fewer times that I can actually watch it.  However, my obsession is strong, so I'm sure I'll make it happen!

Stacked Burger Bar

S took his mom and me to dinner recently at Stacked Burger Bar in far south city recently.  I'd been wanting to go for a while, and was thrilled that he thought of it.

The Big Fat Greek Burger

(c) Sauce Magazine

I had the Big Fat Greek Burger and S got the Wet Nap.  We split them both, and they were both delicious.  Perhaps even more impressive, I saved some leftover fries, which are never very good the second time around, and they were!

As a bonus, on Monday nights, they have a buy one, get one half off burger deal, so that's the time to go.  A few local beers on tap, as well as tasty mac and cheese balls as a starter, and all together it made for a deliciously unhealthy meal.

What I Watched -- The Girl in the Book

I found The Girl in the Book on Netflix. I like Michael Nyqvist, who played the male lead in the Swedish versions of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movies.

Apparently he likes movies about girls.  In the latter series, he was helping the girl; in this film, he's the predator.  (The audience figures that out pretty quickly, so I don't think I'm giving anything away by saying it.)  The film is set 15 years later, when he comes back into the girl's life, and she is forced to face her past.

Bottom line: predictable and boring.

Gloucester

I not-so-recently traveled to Gloucester, Massachusetts, for my friend L's bridal shower.  I had never been there before, but it was a cute little place.  The house we stayed at was a ways out of town, about a five minute walk from Wingaersheek Beach.  (And since the wedding is coming up, I figured it was about time I post these pics!)

 

I ventured into town on a couple of occasions - to get coffee, to find a gas station and liquor store, to pick someone up at the gas station. Most time was spent at the beach or beach house, so I can't say much about Gloucester proper except that it looked cute.

L's aunt is Italian, and there was no end of food and drink available to us for the weekend. It was incredible.

The beach had a long, shallow grade. If you were inclined to wade in cold ocean water (I was not), you could go quite far.  I did find that the consistency of the sand made a good surface for running on in the morning after the tide went out, but the gentle slope of the beach often meant that large pools of water were left behind as the tide ebbed. That's not a  great thing to come across in running shoes.  But the beach is private, only available for use by the people who are staying in the homes in that particular neighborhood, so I can forgive its shallowness in return for not being crowded.

I had the last flight home on Sunday, so I also had the pleasure of spending those additional hours with L and a couple of the attendees who were staying until Monday. We just relaxed at her aunt's (fabulous!) condo in the Charlestown area of Boston.  Then off the the airport after a great weekend.