Movie Monday - 2/10/2025

Hey, hey, hey! I hope everyone is doing well out there. I am down to four movies to watch before the Oscars and I don’t think I’m going to make it. Maybe, I’ll get to watch one or two, but I am going to be out of pocket for a while. I won’t be back in pocket until after the Oscars. Boo.

Oh well.

I rewatched Dune: Part One since Dune: Part Two was nominated for Best Picture, and I liked it much more than I did the first time around. As far as Part Two goes, the story continues with Paul reuniting with the Fremen people to fight House Harkonen. The movie was alright, but I did not like the turn that Paul takes in the story. I haven’t read the book; so, I guess I don’t get it. I hear that another sequel is coming based on the book, Dune Messiah. For the Dune lovers, it was probably very good. The visual effects were top notch and it resulted in earning nominations in technical categories.

I saw The Brutalist, about a European architect, Laszlo, who came to the US after WWII to rebuild his life. He is taken under the wing of a rich (and frankly, unstable) man, Harrison, who hires Laszlo to build a community center in honor of his late mother. As one would expect, life is not a bowl of cherries in this situation. Adrien Brody plays Laszlo and he has been nominated for Best Actor. It was good. 

A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet playing the Bob Dylan. The film chronicles the singer/songwriter’s arrival in New York City at the start of his career, through his rise as one of the most revolutionary and iconic artists in the 20th century. Chalamet actually sang all the songs. He was also nominated for Best Actor. It was a very good movie.

That’s it folks! Catch y’all on the flip side…

MK out.

Movie Monday - 1/28/2025

The Oscar nominations have been announced and I have seven movies to watch before the ceremony. I’m not impressed with many of the films nominated for Best Picture. They really need to go back down to five nominations in this category.

Here’s what I’ve watched in the past week.

 

Mother’s Instinct, starring Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain, is about two women who live next door to each other and are best friends. Each has a son, and the sons are best friends as well. That is, until a tragic accident changed the dynamics. It was a thriller, but kind of predictable. It was alright.

 

In Late Bloomers, Louise, an unfocused young woman meets Antonina, a cranky Polish woman while recovering in rehab. Rather grudgingly on both sides, Louise becomes Antonina’s caregiver post discharge. The two are a very unlikely pair and have a lot to learn from each other. It was cute.

 

I cannot believe that The Substance was nominated for Best Picture and that Demi Moore was nominated for Best Actress. She plays an actor whose career is fading now that she’s turned fifty. She learns of an illicit drug that would restore her youth, but it has conditions. I could accept the science fiction/horror and the relatively entertaining first two thirds of the movie. The last third was absolutely beyond the pale. A critic opined that this film elevates the genre (of horror movies). I beg to differ. And while Demi is a decent actor, this role should not have garnered an Oscar nomination. This film is not worth a watch.

 

MK out.

Movie Monday - 1/20/2025

In the past week, I watched Maria, starring Angelina Jolie as the titular character, Maria Callas. I’m not sure how factual it is, but the movie depicted Callas before she died. She was said to have been reflective at the end and we watch her looking back on her life. It is a heavy movie. Her life was not easy. Jolie’s performance has garnered well-deserved awards buzz. I enjoyed watching.

 

Recent binge:

Nobody Wants This – Netflix

MK out.

 

 

 

 

Book Chat - 1/16/2025

I only have one book to discuss today that I finished in the last week. I’ve already started the second one in the series of four.

 

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

Lucy is a grown woman who came from a humble, yet abusive background. She overcame her troubles and moved away. Now, she’s lying in a hospital bed in a prolonged recovery and her estranged mother comes to stay with her for a few days. There are tensions between the two, and some are examined. However, they mostly spend their time gossiping about people from the past and giving the nurses silly names – all the while talking around the substantive issues. I liked the quirky characters. The book is by the author who also wrote Olive Kitteridge and Olive, Again. It was good.

 

Were supposed to get colder weather again next week. Yay.

 

MK out.

 

Move Monday - 1/13/2025

Today was a beautiful day where I was. How about you?

 

I watched a couple of flicks in the last week.

 

In His Three Daughters, the detached sisters return to their childhood home to take turns caring their presumably dying father. Longtime resentments surface and they are forced to deal with them. It was a good study of family dynamics. Natasha Leone, Elizabeth Olsen and Carrie Coon play the daughters.  Except for the wordy conversations by one sister in particular, I liked it. Y’all know how I feel about wordy and forced-sounding conversation, though…

 

Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum star in Fly Me to the Moon. Set in 1969, advertising executive Kelly Jones is hired to film a fake moon landing to be used in the event that the actual mission fails, without letting NASA know. Things become complicated when she falls for Cole Davis, the launch director. Ray Romano and Woody Harrelson are among the other actors who are in the movie. Colin Jost has a small part in the film. It was cute!

 

 

 

MK out.

 

 

 

FO Friday - 1/11/2025

 Y’all! I finished something in the new year!

The pattern is called Travel Hat by Robin Devine. I used Cascade 220 Superwash Aran in the Army Green color way. My knitting mojo has been pretty nonexistent, which is why I chose to make something little. Instant gratification can be a good jumpstarter.

Once again, I’m trying to play with yarn in my stash. I’m not promising a total cold sheep year, but I’d really like to knit with yarn I already have. 

I’ve already started another project. It’s another hat. I hope you’ll see it soon.

MK out.

Book Chat - 1/9/2025

The holidays are over for now. It’s a new year and I’m off to the races in the reading department. In the past week, I finished one book I had started before Christmas, but I put it aside during the festivities. I picked it back up on New Years Day and finished it a couple of days later. And then, I read another book.

 

The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley

Patrick reports for Guncle duty, five years after we left off in the first book. Patrick’s brother, Greg, is getting remarried and the kids are not on board. Before the big day, Patrick takes the children on a trip across Europe while trying to teach them about love. It was cute.

 

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

A couple living at Stung Meanchey, the largest dump in Cambodia, eke out a living by picking over the trash for recyclables they can sell for food and medicine for their constantly ill child. Real people inspired this novel and there is a documentary about them called River of Victory. The book was very good. I’ll let you know about the documentary.

 

Stay warm, People! We are having winter over here in north Texas. I don’t know about you.

MK out.

 

Movie Monday - 1/6/2025

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and Happy New Year to everyone! It’s even Epiphany, aka The Twelfth Day of Christmas today! It’s one of my favorite times of the year.

 

In Emilia Perez, a Mexican drug cartel boss hires an attorney to make his dream come true. It was pretty good. Selena Gomez plays the bad man’s wife.

 

I didn’t really like The Piano Lesson. It is another one of those stage productions adapted to film. They usually move at a weird pace, and this film was no different. I did enjoy Danielle Deadwyler’s performance as Berniece. She and her brother, Boy Willie, fight over the fate of a family heirloom – the piano.

 

In Housekeeping for Beginners, a childless woman ends up raising her friend’s kids. It was poignant.

 

Recently streamed series:

Bad Sisters Season 2 – AppleTV

The Big C – Paramount

Shrinking Season 2 - AppleTV

 

MK out.