Movie Monday - 10/14/2019

Not seen in theaters:

Maria Callas: In Her Own Words is a documentary about the life of Maria Callas. It's full of footage from concerts, interviews and home movies. She was a bit of a diva. It was interesting.

Gloria Bell, starring Julianne Moore, is about a divorced woman who enjoys the club scene. One night, she meets a divorced man and they start dating. She soon discovers that he is maintaining a codependent relationship with his ex-wife and grown daughters. Surprisingly, it was just alright. I'm glad I didn't run right out to the theater to see it. 

White Boy Rick is based on a true story about Rick Wershe, Jr. who is the youngest FBI informant in history. The film is set in 1980s Detroit. The FBI enlist Rick's help in tracking drug dealers in exchange for immunity for his father, who is manufacturing weapons. However, being poor and having seen what drug money can buy a person, Rick starts dealing on his own after his assignment with the FBI ends. Richie Merritt, Matthew McConaughey and others star in this movie. It was good.

MK out.

Book Chat - 10/10/2019

The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal is about two sisters growing up in rural Minnesota in the 1950s. I know, I know...recently I told you about two other books about two sisters growing up during the same time period. In this book, one sister takes a more traditional route. She marries and lives a blue-collar life, baking pies at the local nursing home. The other goes to college, majors in chemistry because she wants to make beer and ends up marrying the son of a local beer empire. I have to say, hands down, that this book is the best one I've read in a while — and, I've read some good ones lately. You must read it.

The Color of Water in July by Nora Carroll is about a girl who inherits the family cottage when her grandmother dies. She hadn't been there in many years, following a failed summer romance. She treks to Michigan with her boyfriend to ready the cottage for sale and starts going through the contents. Family secrets come to light. It was good.

MK out.

Movie Monday - 10/7/2019

I didn't watch any current films in the last week, but here's what I did see:

Chicken with Plums is based on a graphic novel of the same name. A world famous violinist loses his will to play and to live after his wife smashes his violin. He decides to lay down and die and takes to his bed. Everyday, he looks at past aspects of his life including his love for a woman from before he got married. It is based in Iran, but in French with English subtitles. Isabella Rosellini and Mathieu Almaric are the only two actors I recognized, and both did a great job. It was good.

Susan Sarandon, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Katherine Heigl and Amanda Seyfried are among those who star in The Big Wedding. A former couple's adopted son is getting married. His biological mother, a devout Catholic is coming to the wedding and he is worried that she would not approve of his less than traditional family. Everyone decides to pretend that his parents are still married. Comic circumstances ensue. It was predictable, but cute.

LBJ, starring Woody Harrelson, is the story of Johnson's presidency from before and following the assassination of John Kennedy. Harrelson does a great job. It was interesting.

MK out.