What I Read -- Why Not Me?

I read Why Not Me? a while back; I'm not sure how it escaped my blogging notice. It was one of our postal book club books, selected by K.

I did not read Mindy Kaling's first book, nor was I a big watcher of the American version of The Office.  (I did watch a fair number of episodes of the British version, but I still would not consider myself a devotee.)

Nevertheless, I did enjoy Mindy's anecdotes about working on the show, and making it big-ish in Hollywood.  I appreciate that she knows that her life story is not normal (not everyone gets invited to dinner at the White House!).  However, I think a few more years of life experience probably added some much-needed perspective that her first book may have lacked.  All in all, rather an amusing collection of stories.

What I Watched -- Someone Like You

It may have been on Christmas day that I watched Someone Like You.  In any case, it was that day or one of the ones shortly after, when I was still immobile for having over-eaten, and I did nothing but watch movies that S discovered on Netflix. 

Someone Like You came out in 2001, and stars a bunch of good-looking people: Ashley Judd, Hugh Jackman, and Greg Kinnear, to name a few.  It's a love triangle rom-com, but smart and funny.  And I love Ashley Judd's haircut.  Plus, as with anything set in NYC, it gets automatic bonus points from me.

Bottom line: I would have watched it even if had not been too stuffed to move and put on something else -- and that's saying something!

It's my birthday!

Christmas Extravaganza, Part II

Well, Christmas is over, but the fun ran through to December 26th!

On Christmas Day, S and I had K&J over for brunch.  Grandma came too, and we all chowed down on some eggs and potatoes, and drank a quite respectable amount of prosecco (mixed with OJ, if one so chose).  We opened gifts and K did a stellar job icing the sugar cookies.  Unfortunately the other G was housebound with an injured pup, but we had a couple of lovely telephone chats.

I continued my movie watching, with a new one recommended by C: It Happened on 5th Avenue.  Very cute!  It's old fashioned, it's set in New York, and it's about Christmas -- all of which are things I love!  In my food coma after brunch, I also watched a few not-so-good made-for-Netflix Christmas movies, which were tolerable in my semi-conscious state, but not recommended (not even named). And I watched one of my annual favorites, Little Women!  It's not Christmas without Little Women.

I'm not even sure the fun is over yet.  My birthday is coming up, and I might be able to swindle some more Christmas fun for the big day!

Happy Christmas!

Christmas Extravaganza, Part I

I must admit that I have done fewer out-of-the-house holiday activities this year than normal, which is a bit of a bummer.  However, I have done plenty of around-the-house stuff, so here's some of that:

1. I put up my Christmas tree!  I got a little creative after debating with S the merits of a real tree.  I may go that route next year, but for now, I'm quite happy with my version!

2. We had a Christmas lighting party.  A couple of weeks ago, we had people over for a dinner of pulled pork, mac 'n cheese, and Christmas cookies, and we put up my yard ornament (an inflatable snowman) and strung Christmas lights across the new deck.

3. I made Christmas treats.  Some were the usual - Santa Snacks, molasses cookies.  But I also tried out some Irish spiked brownies which were pretty delicious.  More to come!

4. I've watched some of my Christmas favorites.  S and I started out the holiday season with Love Actually.  Subsequent to watching it, he discovered a Love Actually drinking game, so we may watch it again.  I've also taken in The Polar Express and It's A Wonderful Life.  Interestingly, though this is the 5th or 6th year I've watched the latter, I noticed a few things in it this time that I hadn't before.  All the more reason to keep watching, year after year.

5. I've written about 2/3 of my Christmas cards. I'm a little late to the card-writing scene this year, so sorry if yours hasn't arrived yet!

What I Watched -- The Darkest Hour

Our last SLIFF film of the festival was Darkest Hour.  We arrived a bit late because it overlapped with the end of the narrative shorts I posted about the other day.

I have a reasonable knowledge of this period of history, which probably aided in my understanding of who was who and what was going on when we walked in mid-meeting between Neville Chamberlain and King George VI. (You might remember King George VI from The King's Speech.)  I knew more or less where things were going, and that Winston, the star of the show, would get the job which Mr. Chamberlain was about to vacate.

Churchill was played by Gary Oldman. He did such a good job as the heavy-drinking new prime minister that there were times that it was difficult to understand what he was saying. (Aside: I have a soft spot in my heart for Gary Oldman, since I first remember encountering him in the film adaptation of Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead, which is when I truly understood the comic genius of both William Shakespeare and Tom Stoppard.)

The remainder of the cast performed well too, although (not unexpectedly), Churchill is the center of attention.

Bottom line: I always love a historical biopic, and this was a good way to end the festival.

What I Watched -- The Lost World: Jurassic Park

S and I were discussing Jurassic Park after our symphonic experience, and it was revealed to him that I had never seen either of the sequels.  He happens to have the box set, so we settled in the other night to watch The Lost World.

As with so many sequels, you can already predict that I'm going to tell you that the first one is better.  Well, it is.  But as sequels go, this isn't terrible.  Jeff Goldblum reprises his performance as Dr. Ian Malcolm, with the same dour wit that he brought to the first movie.  But he now has a girlfriend (played by Julianne Moore), a daughter, and new colleagues.  Aside from brief appearances by the two grand kids Lex and Timmy, the only other repeat character is Dr. John Hammond (the late Richard Attenborough).

But the story remains largely the same: dinosaurs get out of control and hunt down the people.  Don't mean to spoil anything here, but a few people get eaten.  The film sports lots of rain and mud, a few extremely unhappy T-Rexes, and more colossally bad ideas development in the search for human amusement.

Bottom line: more entertaining dinosaurs.  Yay!

What I Watched -- A River Runs Through It

I have no idea how many times I have seen A River Runs Through It.  But when it became apparent that S had not seen it as he reviewed the DVD collection after the craziness of the holiday, it was the obvious choice for a low key evening.

It's a really good movie.  As far as I'm concerned, Paul Maclean is Brad Pitt's best role.  But it's not just him.   Craig Sheffer as the older brother Norman; Tom Skerritt as their father, the Reverend, and Emily Lloyd (in probably her only good role) as Jessie, all add substantially to the casting.

In case you don't know, it's the story of two brothers growing up in small-town Montana in the first third of the 20th century.  The opening line of the book sets up the story: "In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing."  You meet the boys when they're about 8 and 5, and see them through to adulthood.

S's comment was that it portrays the complex relationship of brotherhood with the nuance that it's due, rather than the usual glossy exterior that is portrayed.

It's also a beautifully-shot tribute to fishing and the outdoors.

Bottom line: a must-see.

(And yes, the book is also totally worth the investment of time, if you haven't read it yet.)

What I Watched -- Casablanca

I have seen Casablanca before (although I'm not sure I blogged about it), but it's such a classic that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see it on the big screen when it came to town.  Plus, S had never seen it before!

Before the movie, we went to grab some terrible-for-us food at The Village Bar.  We succeeded mightily: chili cheese waffle fries (delicious), a cheeseburger (pretty good), and a mushroom and Swiss burger (eh).  We dashed over to the movie theater, arriving 15 minutes after start time, but just in time for the opening credits.

As movies go, this one is just about perfect.  It has a little bit of mystery, a love story, great music, historical interest, fantastic one-liners, and a winning leading man.

Bottom line: if you haven't seen it, you must (and on the big screen, if possible)!

He Keeps Going, And Going, And Going....

My favorite little Mars rover, Opportunity, has survived the worst of another Martian winter, and even took a picture of his own long shadow.  Going on 14 Earth years!

What I Watched -- Narrative Shorts: I Do

More SLIFF short films!  All the ones in this series were related somehow to marriage.  As with all collections of shorts, some were better than others.  I can't remember anymore what order they were shown in, so here they are alphabetically:

Alpha.  I have almost no recollection of this film.  Which tells you something about it.

Annie Waits.  A girl just can't seem to find the right guy.  Not memorable.

Bonboné.  An tale of perhaps the world's most unusual attempt at conception.

Evil Woman.  A surprising story of a long-time girlfriend who isn't what she seems.  Interesting, but weird ending.

The Girl in the Dress.  A coming-to-reality tale whose main characters are the scorned ex-girlfriend and Henry VIII.  Very amusing.

Halvmand.  A middle-aged couple tries to conceive.  It works, much to the surprise of one of them. It was an interesting meditation on what surely happens in some people's real lives.

I've Got You.  An airline stewardess meets a stranger in a bar.  The predictable one-night stand ensues.  The rest is slightly less predictable.

In a Heartbeat (complete film).  An animated tale of timid young love.  Adorable.

Make It Up.  Neither S nor I think this film made the final cut.  Usually they make an announcement if one of the programmed films was not included for some reason -- and they didn't -- but neither of us remember it.

Rattled.  A young Muslim man struggles through the process of finding a bride.

Vows.  An animated film about a wedding day that isn't quite what one hoped, but accomplishes the goal nevertheless.  Another winner.

What I Watched -- Food Evolution

S and I had a marathon day on the final day of SLIFF.  Our fourth movie (the first of three for the day) was Food Evolution, a documentary about the activists in support of and opposed to genetic modification in the food supply.

The first realization that one must have in order to meaningfully participate in this conversation is that we all eat a lot of genetically modified food, whether we know it or not, and whether we like it or not. Genetic modification of plants has been happening since Gregor Mendel cross-bred pea plants 150 years ago -- and even before that, because he was only studying and quantifying what farmers were already doing.

Okay, glad we got that out of the way.  Now, on to the movie. The pro-GM spin (which was the dominant one) focused on genetic modification as a way to feed the planet's ever-growing population, even in the face of disease and drought.  It also addressed the question of whether the use of GM crops has caused an increase or decrease in the rates of pesticide use, and the toxicity of those pesticides.

The anti-GM spin was more diffuse -- probably intentionally so, given the angle of the movie. Some of them were in favor of organics, some were opposed to scientific meddling, some were just confused. Overall, the goal was to combat misinformation.

I was surprised that Monsanto played such a large role in the film. Though it would be hard to make a movie about genetic modification in the food industry without discussing Monsanto, merely saying the company's name inspires such vitriol that I thought they might try to avoid it, and just refer to Monsanto and their ilk as "Big Ag," or something like that. Not the case; it was dealt with head on.

Bottom line: a public win for the GM food movement.

Oh, and it was narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, who is one of my faves! And if he doesn't inspire confidence, who does?

Goals 2017 -- December Edition

Oh, December. How has another year gone by?

I'm going to get into the heart of winter by doing something I should have done last summer: finish unpacking!

I did a flurry of unpacking shortly after I moved. Then, as is so often the case, I got distracted by something more immediate and lost steam. Once that happened, I never got it back again. There remains a stack of boxes along one basement wall that needs attention. 

Now is the time!