Movie Monday - 2/15/2021

Movies! And more!

One Night in Miami depicted a fictional night where Malcom X, Cassius Clay, James Brown and Sam Cooke got together. Each a legend in his field, the men examined how they could contribute to the fight for civil rights. It was good.

Pete Davidson helped write and starred in The King of States Island. Apparently, it was semi-autobiographical. Davidson plays Scott, a high school dropout, whose fireman dad died in a hotel fire when Scott was a young boy. He's now 24 and still living at home, with no real career options. His mother (played by Marisa Tomei) starts dating a fireman, and Scott doesn't like it. Y'all, it was surprisingly good. I really liked it...a lot.

I've recently binged Firefly Lane with Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke - a 10-episode Netflix original series. Best friends since they were fourteen, the episodes chronicle Kate and Tully’s adventures into adulthood. The show is adapted from the novel of the same name by Kristin Hannah. I have not read the novel, but I know the series deviates from the book somewhat. I don’t know if I will read the book. It ended on a cliffhanger. I hope the story continues. It was so good.

MK out.

Start Something Sunday - 2/14/2021

No, I’m not finished with my current sweater, but a hat pattern is calling me. (Hat for Joy on Ravelry.)

It’s the perfect day to sit inside and make.

Happy Valentine’s Day everybody!

MK out.

WIP Wednesday 2/3/2021

I’m still working on my sweater and hope to be on sleeve island soon. It’s further along than pictured:

It’s a nice pattern and I’m enjoying making it, but I don’t know when I will be able to wear it. Winter in Cowtown isn’t all that cold. Because of Covid, I won’t be making a trip to cold country this year. On the bright side, I will be ready for next year. That means I’m ahead!

MK out.

Movie Monday - 2/1/2021

Hey, hey! This week, I talk about two films with Oscar buzz and one I've been meaning to see for a little while.

In The Assistant, Julia Garner stars as a new college grad in her first job. She is an assistant to an entertainment company's mogul and witnesses a culture of sexual harassment and questionable behavior. The film documents one day in her work life. I would never want that job. Garner was excellent. The was good.

Vanessa Kirby stars as Martha, an excited expectant mother, who elects to have a home birth in Pieces of a Woman. Things go terribly wrong, and we follow how each partner deals with their grief. Ellen Burnstyn stars as Martha's mother, who is out for justice. It was really good.

The latest iteration of Emma does not disappoint. Anya Taylor-Joy plays the matchmaking title character, Emma Woodhouse. Josh O'Conner, Bill Nighy and the incomparable Miranda Hart round out my list of favorites from the cast. I loved it.

 

Limited series that I've recently binged:

Pretend It's a City - in which Fran Lebowitz shares her thoughts on living in NYC

Hollywood - a guilty pleasure - silly, naughty, campy

MK out.

 

Movie Monday - 1/25/2021

I watched a film I've been wanting to watch for a few years called Wonderstruck. There's a girl in 1927 and a boy in 1977 who each are searching for something different in their lives. The movie alternates between the two stories. Both are deaf for different reasons, and each one's footsteps follow the same path. Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams star. It was good.

Mank loosely follows Herman Mankiewicz’s journey to write the screenplay for Citizen Kane. (And he did win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.) It was entertaining. I looked up all the main players and the film gets some things out of order, but quite a bit of the stuff really happened. Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins and others starred in the movie. It was very good.

The latest sweater is moving right along.

MK out.

 

Movie Monday - 1/18/2021

I found some movie watching time last week.

In the dramedy, Let Them All Talk, a powerhouse cast (Meryl Streep, Candice Bergen and Dianne Wiest) was assembled to tell the story of three friends trying to reconnect since their last physical meeting of many years prior. Apparently, much of the dialogue was improvised by the actors and it was dang good. Streep plays an acclaimed author traveling to England to receive an award. She brings along her two longtime friends and her nephew. They take the Queen Mary 2, as she won’t fly. It was cute.

Dreamland is set in Depression-era Texas. The teenaged step-son of a police deputy craves adventure. He sets out to help find a bank robber rumored to be in the area. What he thinks he finds is his ticket to Mexico, the place from which he received the only communication from his biological father after the man abandoned him and his family. Margot Robbie, Travis Fimmel, Finn Cole, Garrett Hedlund, Kerry Condon and Darby Camp star in this film. It was pretty good.

In the psychological thriller, Greta, a young waitress finds a handbag on the subway and returns it to the owner. The two become friendly and things go well, until they don't.  Isabelle Huppert, Chloë Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe, Cole Feore, and Stephen Rae are the actors in this film and all do a great job in their roles. It was good.

Hopefully, more next week...

MK out.

Book Chat - 1/14/2021

This week’s selection:

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

This novel tells the tale of a bullied boy growing up with an alcoholic mother. It’s set in 1980-90s Scotland. I had a hard time getting into this book, but once I settled in, it got better. It is haunting, as the subject matter isn't pretty, but it is pretty good.

MK out.