THE CARRIE DIARIES UPDATED

The series The Carrie Diaries is on CW streaming channel. I'm binge watching. It's a Young Adult series like most of the series on CW. This is surprisingly well done. It's a story about relationships and developing into the person you want to be aided by a great set of friends. It's set at the high school level and Carrie is probably more mature than I am. The characters are looking for the typical things, love, school, socializing, family life, "finding themselves", developing into the people they want to be.

The acting is excellent. That is a priority for me. If the acting is very good in a TV show or full movie, the plot becomes secondary. I appreciate the fact the acing is well done so it doesn't pull me out of the story. Acting creates believable characters and their depth. 

I'm updating my blog about The Carrie Diaries. I can't believe it has been years since I recommended the series. It's on the streaming CW channel. I get my channels from Roku and a Smart TV. I am binge watching. (CW has ads to keep their shows free but sometimes it gets on my nerves, especially when they do the same ad over and over.) 

Mainly I love The Carrie Diaries because I wanted to see the wonderful actor that plays Carrie's boyfriend--Ausin Butler. He's undoubtably Oscar material this year, 2022. He's thin, with wavy blond hair, and blue eyes. Maybe he is an ordinary, typical looking actor. He's the amazing actor in ELVIS the movie. I can't rave about him enough. He played TV kids and teens for years. He brings Elvis alive. Voice, moves, emotions. He even sings the songs himself. (When Elvis's voice deepens in later years Elvis's singing is blended with Austin's voice. Electronics in the movie industry are incredible.)

The Carrie Diaries, definitely a chick-flick, is worth watching by teens, preteens, adults and old people. It's based on the character Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City. It comes from the same author of the books that the series are based on. It's the author's story of how she developed into a writer. If you are familiar with Sex and The City you have to know there is a lot of talking about relationships and sex. There are no graphic sex scenes; the actual sexuality is implied or discreet.  It's about high school in 1985 after all. 

Sandy 

RECKONING with PAUL BETTANY

RECKONING -- Evidently there are two movies called Reckoning released the same year. The other Reckoning is described as a horror movie and is NOT this one.

First, Paul Bettany is not hard on the eyes. Blue eyes and blond hair. Excellent actor.

I think what I like best about him is his deep voice and lovely British accent.

I first noticed him in the movie A Beautiful Mind. He was the imaginary friend of John Nash. He also met his wife on the set of that movie--Jennifer Connelly. He has played priests and monks in a few movies like Da Vinci Code and sequel.

Bettany has a list of other movies on IMDb. He's been a supporting actor much of the time. Plays, now one of the characters in Avengers; a red guy with a strange costume.

In Reckoning he is the lead character. The movie hinges on his character. In literary terms the story is told from his POV (point of view.) That doesn't mean he narrates, just in case you wonder.

I thought Reckoning was a newer movie than it is. Came out in 2003-2004. I assume both has to do with when it was released in Britain and then in the United States. I don't care enough to stop here and look it up.

I now have, in addition to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Acorn and several free streaming channels such as Crackle, PBS, History. I assume I am now a movieholic, huh?

I will tell you now that Reckoning is a deep movie. The blurbs about the plot of the movie are shallow so don't even bother to look them up. For instance it's a drama not a mystery. It's awesome in the true definition of the word. It's about a priest who leaves his church in the Middle Ages. He find himself in a group of actors who travel from town to town to put on morality plays (stories from the Bible.)

The priest sees an injustice in the town and tries to convince his acting troupe to put on a play about recent events in the town with hopes of helping the townspeople see themselves in a new light.

There is also several mysteries, one in which he has to reveal he is a priest. There is suspense and danger. Tension and strength of character. In short I was blow away by this movie though it doesn't really try to do that. It's just a good movie.

There is nothing wrong with any part of this movie. Everything and everyone is wonderful. 

It's a dang good movie for the thinking-person. If you like to watch movies with LIFE portrayed in a dramatic, dynamic way please watch this movie.

Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany 

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH

He's great in Sherlock.

I suspect he'll be a major, well-know actor from Star Trek: Into Darkness when it hits the theaters.


I love his British accent. 

Go Ben!

THE CARRIE DIARIES

I like the new CW show "The Carrie Diaries".

I like the show and I'm 67 and a half years old.

I don't usually watch the young adult shows on CW. I don't relate. I don't always get the humor. I can't understand why the characters are so interested in what they are...young people trying to find true love, vampires, werewolves, etc. I would describe some of them as fantast "soap operas."

I find those shows shallow and the characters immature. The plots are sort of boring for an old chick.

BUT...

The Carrie Diaries characters are believable not just stereotypes. Very new and refreshing for American TV.

Not all the actors are made to look "movie star" pretty. Carrie herself is not silly at 16 and might just be more mature and responsible than I am.

Even though it's set in a high school social level, the stories are much deeper, interesting and quality.

It may have the "same" lead character Carrie Bradshaw as the hit HBO show "Sex and the City" but that's the only similarity between the two shows. They're based on the books of Candace Bushnell who has just opened a new line of Young Adult novels about the young Carrie.

It just goes to show that YA books are for ages as are the TV series based on them.

The Carrie Diaries and the kids in them, are all over the internet and on facebook. So look 'em up.

Watch an episode. (Watch two, actually, since when I recommend watching a show, invariably the one show that's awful. )

It's only moderately continued week to week so once you know all the characters it's easy to follow the story. (Plus there are secondary stores that include Carrie's sister and her Dad. So there's is an attraction for the younger kids as well as adults. Though I'm old enough to be her Dad's mother.)  

I posted a candid photo because the official publicity shots don't really look like the real characters and actors in action.  The show is not full of glamorous, plastic characters.

It's on CW Monday evenings at 8:00 PM Eastern/Pacific time and 7:00 PM Central/Mountain time.

 

SHERLOCK: HOW DID HE DO IT? **Spoilers**




  It's late. After midnight so I don't have time to google and view ALL the comments about "How did Sherlock fake his suicide?" Someone may have come up with "solution" besides me but I really don't know.

I've been thinking and thinking about what one of the authors said in an interview about this show. He said that there was a clue in the movie; something Sherlock did that was "out of character" and was a clue to how Sherlock might have done it. He even said he was surprised that no one seemed to have caught it.

I've watched that episode (season 2, episode 3) over and over looking and listening for that one clue. I couldn't stop watching it until I found that clue! Although I doubt that will stop me watching it and all the Sherlock episodes. They are a work of genius and a work of art.

So, I finally heard THE clue. It was somewhat anticlimactic since the internet traffic with hundreds if not millions of people posting constantly. The furor seems to be over for now.

Here's what I think. Sherlock was so terribly rude to Kitty. He's usually indifferent or detached from people that he considers unimportant or not worthy of his attention. Here, in this scene, he is deliberately mean to her.

He says to her and her recording device, "You repel me."

So out of all the clues and red-herrings and other mysterious elements, this is THE clue I have been scouring the DVD to hear. I feel pretty confident that this is it.

It's a pun. Repel and rapell. Rock climbing--the way a person gets down from a very high cliff, a mountain, or building in this case. Using ropes and body harnesses..

Sherlock made sure John would only see the beginning of the fall. Then John hit his head on the pavement so he was dopey. The people around Sherlock made sure John didn't get to close, pulled his hand away when he was groping for a pulse.

Since it's obvious that Sherlock set this all up, that those surrounding him on the pavement were the homeless network (that "clue" was when he said the homeless network were easier to "bribe" than the police. I also think Molly arranged the paramedics to cart "the body" into the hospital.

That's it. Sherlock rapelled down from the roof after he took a free fall half the way, the half that John could witness. I don't know how, but he did.

The mystery now is, why was he so scared? He's afraid of heights? No, he jumped between buildings in the first episode. Was he was thinking he might really die? Maybe. He was definitely worried about that when he told Molly, "I think I'm going to die."  He hoped the people he was counting on were in place and ready to go into action when he jumped? Could he trust all of it to work? If so, did that thought make him doubt his arrogant attitude that he was so much smarter and capable than other people? Did that make him feel he was a fake? Whatever it was, it made him tremble, look scared, and fight off crying.

Only time will tell. One thing I do see is that Sherlock was worried about Moriarty killing him so he had to plan some sort of "death" for himself before Moriarty got the chance. He chose the roof of a hospital. How convenient.

That's my guess of the clue "everyone missed" that told "how he might have done it". I'm pretty confident that's what it was. The mechanics of how he actually repelled is still a mystery. It could be any explanation, any scenario. After all, it's fiction. It's fantasy at it's best. 

Oh, yeah. The dummy at the beginning of the episode was hanging from a rope. Aha. Hint? I think I saw a rope curled up on the roof  when Sherlock and John were having their phone call/suicide note. Are these more subtle clues?

What about the big red lettered graffiti on the wall behind Sherlock and John while they were escaping from police custody? Of course most viewers, if not all, caught a glimpse of them. They were I.O.U. I also noticed, though, in subsequent viewings, that the rest of that graffiti was a big pair of wings.

It's good to read a well-written mystery and it's great to watch a well-written movie. Thanks guys.

Over and out. Sandy Schairer

BURNING MAN--MATTHEW GOODE

I've been searching the Internet today trying to find information about Burning Man starring Matthew Goode. It's the only one of his movies I haven't seen.  

I've seen many links that say "see full movie online now for free". But, alas, these are come-on ads zapping me to streaming sites with free trials. Most of the time they offer other movies besides the one's they say they're offering. Or like that.

As far as I can tell, this movie is just not available in United States yet.

I earlier saw the DVD for sale on an Australian site but I was unable to find it again today. It was over $30. And just think of the postage from there to here.

Searching online lead me to a site saying: In theaters July 27, 2012 (limited) and on demand starting July 20 on DishTV and Comcast. But theaters where? Albuquerque? United States? Plus I don't do Dish or Cable so what else can I do but.

Part of the problems in googling is that there are a number of movies with the title Burning Man. Amazon has a couple for sale right now, none of which have Matthew Goode in them. Some choices include the Burning Man or "Zozobra" Festivals. Been there, done that. You can imagine the traffic jams in Santa Fe.

But these other burning men have nothing to do with my desire to see Matthew Goode role-ing around in a bundle of emotions complete with over-the-top acting-out behavior. Hoping the trailer is for-real.
 
I see on IMDb that Matthew's Burning Man received a number of nominations for FCCA (including nomination for Matthew as best actor) and three wins in Awgie--best film [writing] and FCCA for best editor & best musical score.

It received nothing but good reviews.

The movie opened in Australian theaters October 2011. No idea when it will be available here in America.
I have it on my Netflix "save" list.

I've watched all of Matt's other movies on DVD from Netflix. Even bought Leap Year and Imagine Me and You. They're not everyone's cup of tea (romantic comedy) but I slurped them up with milk and sugar.

Goode was so good in The Lookout. My Family and Other Animals was an enjoyable, delightful, funny movie. Even though he didn't have many scenes, Goode--as usual--did very well.

I was concerned that his remarks about Leap Year a couple years ago jinxed his opportunities for doing more American movies. I loved Leap Year but evidently Matthew didn't. (No further comment from me.)

Here is the list of his roles from IMDb that he's done, or will do, since he did Burning Man.

Belle (pre-production)
2012 The Poison Tree (TV mini-series) (filming)
2012 Birdsong (TV series) 

– Episode #1.2 (2012) … Captain Gray

– Episode #1.1 (2012) … Captain Gray

2012 Dancing on the Edge (TV series)  

MORIARTY DEAD?

Andew Scott as Moriarty in Sherlock

Is he really dead?  I HOPE not. It would be a terrible waste of a  a great villain.

Moriarty is the most delightful villain since TNG writers created the Borg.




As Moriarty told Sherlock during their tea party, “Every fairytale needs a good villain.”

And Andrew Scott was good. I just loved his eloquent dance in the Tower getting ready to “steal” the Crown Jewels’, his creepy singsong and utterly chilling voice that goes up an octave when he’s making threats, and his innocent looking evil smile when he’s telling Sherlock just what he what he plans to do him. 

Oh, no, he didn’t tell Sherlock what he was going to do to him during tea. He said “I already told you. You weren’t listening.” Then when?

My mind keeps going back to the beginning of episode one when Moriarty, instead of blowing Sherlock up he gets right up in his face and says, “I will BURN you. I will burn the HEART out of you. Was this a death threat or a threat to break Sherlock by getting to his “heart”?

I have a novel idea that hasn’t been considered (I think.) Moriarty isn’t the big bad villain we’ve been lead to think. I think he works for Irene Adler. I think SHE’s the big bad guy. (There are more than a few clues as to this theory.)

I know that’s an absurd theory but it proves the point that in a good suspense thriller mystery NOTHING is what it seems.  (And I've changed my theories about this episode  any times as my blog readers will attest.)

It was clear Sherlock was attracted to Irene. She’s obviously someone considers as smart as he which would be the only way a woman could get to him. She let’s him know she is attracted to him, too. Was Moriarty speaking for her when he says he will burn the HEART out of him?

Irene got to him so strongly that he actually had EMOTIONS in this episode!

After all she made her living in S&M and Moriarty claimed to be an actor.

Did Sherlock fake his suicide because he wanted to go undercover, way under, to continue detecting this mystery? Or another?

Sherlock is a work of art.

Moriarty as Andrew Scott

Will Moriarty and Andrew Scott be coming back for season 3?

It won't happen. Link about Andrew Scott as Moriarty, in case you're interested:
http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/sherlock/21117/what-villains-can-we-expect-in-sherlock-series-3

Link to Andrew Scott as everybody else (acting career).
He won the BAFTA award for best supporting actor but he obviously stole the show at the end.

Thanks Andrew. Be seein' ya. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/andrew-scott-a-pinup-who-is-hard-to-pin-down-6288320.html 

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE'S SHERLOCK

I can't stop hitting a dead horse...or a "dead" Sherlock for that matter.

I tend to think the keys to the screenplay of the last episode of season 2, in which Moriarty shoots himself and Sherlock jumps to his death, can somehow be gleaned by knowing the stories of the elements in the story: Grimm's Fairy Tales and the stories in Doyle's tales of the most famous detective in history...sorry Hercule you're really dead in Agatha Christie's last book about Poirot.

Conan Doyle

I think the biography of Conan Doyle (is that his last name or is Conan his middle name?) may give us some insight into Sherlock the character. This information was, of course, available to the screenwriters of modern Sherlock. Hopefully they don't rely on Wickipedia like I do.

I'm not sure how to refer to Conan Doyle. Is Conan part of his last name or one of his middle names? Why do public people need to use middle names anyway unless someone else has the same name?  There is a modern athlete Conan Doyle. Oh. He was: "Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle  (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930...a Scottish physician and writer...he was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels."

Evidently he had a lot of time on his hands between patients.

This is the link to Wikipedia's site with Conan Doyle's bio.  Arthur Conan Doyle 

Of course any information on the internet is filtered through a writer's understanding. Historical facts tend to become popular mythology within two or three generations. And in the case of some stories we hear on news broadcasts it's much faster than that--say a day or two. So facts are some the the greatest fiction we'll ever run across.

In a nutshell, Doyle wrote for years, got tired of Sherlock and killed him off, or so he intended, in The Final Problem. Due to popular outcry he brought Sherlock back to life as if he'd been alive all the time. Sherlock was gone for 10 years, at least on paper.

The new Sherlock series is loosely based on the stories in the Conan Doyle series. For instance the titles are (slightly) different--Study in Pink vs. Study in Scarlet. I think viewers versed in English Literature who knows Conan Doyle stories well can follow the TV series along and see where the stories may have the same elements and where they differ. I myself didn't spend much time on English Lit in college.

I think there are also clues in the clues in the series. What good would a mystery be without clues? .

What would a good TV series be without a little, "What the hell was THAT about?" Not the element of surprise but more the element of bafflement.

So I don't want to go on and on about this. I would like to learn more about the Sherlock novels & short stories and get a little knowledge of Grimms' Fairy Tales (which in their day were pretty grim before Disney got hold of them.) There are several of their dark tales that might be a "basis" for the clash between Sherlock & Moriarty--if indeed the screenwriters even used a "basis".  I surmise they are way more well-versed in all literature and vastly more clever than I can even suspect.

One of the faked Cottlington Fairy Photo

Here's a little about Doyle and his conception of Moriarty (perhaps). It might help to know that in later life Doyle was a spiritualist (talking to the dead) and believed in the Cottington Fairies. He also believed Houdini was truly supernatural even thought Houdini tried to convince him otherwise.




Wikipedia:  "Death" of Sherlock Holmes

"In 1890 Conan Doyle studied ophthalmology in Vienna, and moved to London, first living in Montague Place and then in South Norwood. He set up a practice as an ophthalmologist. He wrote in his autobiography that not a single patient crossed his door. This gave him more time for writing, and in November 1891 he wrote to his mother: "I think of slaying Holmes... and winding him up for good and all. He takes my mind from better things." His mother responded, "You won't! You can't! You mustn't!"

In December 1893, in order to dedicate more of his time to what he considered his more important works (his historical novels), Conan Doyle had Holmes and Professor Moriarty apparently plunge to their deaths together down the Reichenbach Falls in the story "The Final Problem". Public outcry, however, led him to bring the character back in 1901, in The Hound of the Baskervilles, though this was set at a time before the Reichenbach incident. In 1903, Conan Doyle published his first Holmes short story in ten years, "The Adventure of the Empty House", in which it was explained that only Moriarty had fallen; but since Holmes had other dangerous enemies—especially Colonel Sebastian Moran—he had arranged to also be perceived as dead. Holmes ultimately was featured in a total of 56 short stories and four Conan Doyle novels, and has since appeared in many novels and stories by other authors.

Jane Stanford compares some of Moriarty's characteristics to those of the Fenian John O'Connor Power. 'The Final Problem' was published the year the Second Home Rule Bill passed through the House of Commons. 'The Valley of Fear' was serialised in 1914, the year, Home Rule, The Government of Ireland Act (Sept.18) was placed on the Statute Book."


Final note: Didn't the TV show have Sherlock's brother say something to John (Watson) they didn't want a  repeat of  1922? Or was it 1962? You can look that up for yourself.

PS: I thought I wrote on one of the Sherlock blogs it was my opinion that this episode of Sherlock was acted expertly by Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, and especially Andrew Scott. He was a deliciously evil villain and stole the show. He can't possibly be dead because we want to see more of him!!! Whose willing to bet me Moriarty shows up on "The Storyteller" TV series of Rich Brooks?

The Man Who Wasn't There

THIS MOVIE IS A WORK OF ART

I conjured up a movie on Netflix streaming last night and I wasn't sure I'd like it because of a few unimportant reasons.

One, it was done in black & white. Two, it had Billy Bob Thornton in it (heck, he WAS it) and three, I thought it would be just another boring thriller suspense mystery crime drama like I watch everyday. 

Then I saw it was a Coen brothers movie and I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

The Coen brothers have a deeply disturbing sense of humor. That's my kinda guy.

This was a good movie. There was nothing about this movie that wasn't good. There is no way I'm going to say a word without it being a spoiler. You have to see this one and appreciate it for yourself.

It's a work of art.

DREAM CATCHER

The title of this movie fooled me twice. I read the Stephen King book and my impression was “icky.” (It’s the book King mentioned in his autobiographical book On Writing, as being the story his wife referred to as “The Shit Weasels.” Yeah, that’d a perfect title too.)




The first time I saw Dreamcatcher was at the theater when it was new. I don’t know why I thought it would be better than the book. Maybe I didn’t even realize it was the same Dreamcatcher as the book. It’s just a cool title.



The movie was better than the book. For one reason it was shorter and less complicated. The long scenes from the book were condensed in the movie for maximum shock purposes.



Years later I joined Netflix. I saw the Dreamcatcher DVD was available. Thinking it was a paranormal story about Native American lore, I sent for it.



Surprise! It was the same movie based on the Stephen King book of the same name.



This time the movie was definitely better.



One—the screen was smaller and it the gross scenes weren’t right-up-in-my face like it was in on the theater big screen.



Two—I paid more attention to the movie and understood it better.



Three—I enjoyed the actors and characters more this time around.



Four—One of the main characters was played by Damian Lewis, the British actor I’ve come to appreciate from shows like the short detective series Life, BBC mini-series The Forsyte Saga, a romantic comedy (sort of) like Assassin in Love and one movie about a nut case that I can’t remember the title and couldn’t watch all the way through anyway. He’s not handsome and nor spectacular actor but he’s good enough for me. (Of course he’s an alpha male type which you don’t see very often in real life. As a Zen ex-con detective in Life he does these long looks into peoples eyes like he can see into their souls. Melted my heart. He has a British accent and does a perfect American accent. He uses both of these accents in a remarkable way in Dreamcatcher. All while in an extremely involved fast scene. (Damien has red hair too and blue eyes—two of my favorite qualities in an actor, heck in men and women.)



Five—well, after thinking about Damien Lewis, I’ve forgotten what # 5 is.



I do like watching closely to see Stephen King in a cameo appearance in the movie like Alfred Hitchcock in his. It’s exciting to find him and disappointing when I don’t. So look fast so you don’t miss him.



Dreamcatcher is not necessarily a drama nor a horror movie, a thriller, a fantasy. It’s in a category of its own. Stephen King stories usually are. You can decide. If it’s too icky for you, close your eyes don’t skip the movie just because the sight of a little blood makes you sick.



Stephen King fans will want to rent this one even if they’ve seen it already. It follows the book in case you don’t like movies based on books that have no remote connection to the original story.



People who haven’t see it yet, don’t be fooled by the title. Remember it’s not about that little round thingy they hang over a baby’s bed to keep bad dreams away. It’s not about a dream and it doesn’t keep bad things away.

BURNING MAN with Matthew Goode

I see only one DVD available on the internet of this Australian movie.

It's $38.

I've heard it's well done and good. And I love Matthew Goode (as an actor).

But do I love him enough to pay $38 for a DVD with shipping from Australia?
What would other Matthew Goode fans do?

BARTON FINK

I just finished watching Barton Fink award winning, low-grossing film (only $6million).



I got it from NetFlix and I swear I don’t remember renting it and putting it on the top of my queue.

But there you go...


Since it was about a writer with writer’s block, and I’m a writer (sort of), I might have thought this movie was about writer's block. LOL. I wanted to see a funny movie about writing...i.e., "funny haha". As it was, it was "funny strange".

Even so...


It was a bit more bizarre than I expected. I also expected a surprise ending that would make everything okay if not actually tie up the loose ends or even giving us a hint as to why it was so strange.

Sure enough, though, it WAS a shocking surprise. Shock #1: seeing it just end instead of drawing to a close. #2: noticing at the end that the Coen brothers wrote the script. That was a big surprise for me. 

If you've ever seen a Coen brothers movie you know what I'm talking about. (Now that I think of it, #2 wasn't such a surprise at all. I should have guessed.) 

I wish I'd known it was written by the Coen brothers before I fired up my DVD player.

But what do I know...

There are lots and lots of words posted on the internet about Barton Fink. I suspect if you took the time to read a bunch of them it would take you longer than actually watching the movie.


The crap written about all the symbology is about as enlightening as the symbology crap written about Mulholland Drive. Viewers with half a brain can actually find their own symbols. Forget about obscure literary and historical allusions because if you have to hunt for them, or have someone tell you about them, well, that's just not what watching movies should be about.


If you like weird and/or Coen brother's movies, you will like Barton Fink for sure. 

The acting was very good. (And sort of like the clown show at the circus--you don't know whether to laugh or to be frightened.)

But seriously, if you read all the reviews and deconstructions about it, skip the movie. If you want to watch the movie, skip all the internet things written about it.

So...

That's that.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles

This is a mini-series of a book written by Tomas Hardy.

It was on PBS tonight as a Masterpiece Classic.

I, however, evidently don't read enough classics.


I have always trusted PBS. I have rarely been disappointed.


But...I shall never watch a series based on a classic book without reading the book summary again.


The author's name should have been a red flag for me. Thomas Hardy is only followed by Dickens when it comes to tragic stories.

I've only read one of Hardy's stories and it still haunts me to this day.

Hardy breaks your heart.

I think I'll skip part two (and part three if there is one.)

If you like dramas where things go from bad to worse, if you love watching injustices, this is the movie for you. The movie, like all Masterpiece series, is very good. Scenery and costuming and the way the cloud shadows move across the landscape.

Acting is good. I enjoyed watching the actress, what's-her-name, because she looks like a younger version of the girl that plays Lisbon the boss of the Mentalist.Don't watch it if you're alone and depressed and have no gun. On the other hand maybe it's good for manic depressives to see someone worse off than they are. I don't know.





I, for one, like sad stories if they end up happy not the other way around. I'm funny that way.

I'm glad I read the synopsis and also sad because I'll never forget the ending anyway.

Thanks Wikipedia, for nothing.

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

Okay. I'm trying this new formatting for blogspot. I like change but I'm treading water here keeping up with technological advances.

Where have I been?

I truly have been watching movies. Netflix DVD's and streamed movies to my computer.

Right now I've rented enough Poirot movies and am now hooked on Midsomer Murders. It's a British detective series. I like British mysteries. There is less violence...the coppers don't hit, yell or shoot people. They don't show the gory details of the murders. And they actually have numerous suspects with motives, give clues, toss in red-herrings, and have sympathetic characters. Midsomer Murders with Chief Inspector Barnaby don't tell stories of evil, they're just detective stories.

I was going to watch the PD James series but some of the movies are out of sync on streaming and that is so frustrating to see lips move and not hear what they said for several seconds later. It's amazing how dependent my hearing is on vision...lip reading.

I have nothing else to add. I hope all of you are missing me. 

I actually went to a movie theater. Had to see the last Harry Potter movie. And get the taste of movie theater popcorn.

Reminder: I'm still waiting for a new Matthew Goode movie. (SIGH) 

Hey! I totally love this new formatting. Pick your font, color, and size. Can I pick young, thin and taller, too?

Gattaca

I really appreciate my local library for stocking old movies. I still have a VHS player which increases my viewing variety. They'll soon be obsolete and, sadly, filling landfills.)

I watched a really really old movie (well, old as Hollywood goes) Gattaca from 1997, staring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman.

The movie was eerie. That seems to have made it unique...I think.

I enjoyed the cinematography. It was a bit monotonous but I think that was one of the points.

I wanted to see more of Jude Law. He did well but not enough of him.

It was amazing that the casting crew found children and teens that resembled Vincent and Anton so well. (I often suspect them of casting the stars' children as their younger versions. But seldom since most natural children don't resemble their parents at all.)

Anyway, the movie was a milder form of science fiction--what Asimov liked to call sci-fi, what I call fake science fiction. (I suspect he was referring to a a science fiction story written by a non-science fiction writer. I could be wrong about Gattaca though.)

The plot was secondary to the visual scenes. A good deal of it was left open to interpretation...like what planet were they on? Was that really the sun or a simulation of a sunrise? And how come nobody recognized that Hawke's Jerome was wearing contact lenses? Did they just help him see clearly or did they alter his eye color?

Anyway, if you like mystifying sci-fi and moderately old movies from 1990's you might like it.

It's not bad (regardless of the negative viewer comments I read on the Internet. I don't know what the critics said, but who cares?

Revenge?

I'm very disturbed that movies and even TV shows are doing themes and plots showing revenge as a good idea.

That's scary. Encouraging people to take the law into their own hands is seriously wrong. Killing someone who killed a friend or family member of yours makes you exactly like the person who did the killing in the first place. Worse, since revenge includes hate.

A hero of a movie going after the cops and judge that put him in prison for something he didn't do, it just proves prison is where he belongs. DUH

Why would revenge be worth going to prison and then being killed yourself in revenge be a good idea?

The ignorance of some of the human race never fails to amaze me (or sadden and disgust me.) I'm trying hard not to judge people, but hell...when did naive come to mean stupid?


Aren't gangs bad enough with their revenge killings? Young people recruited into gangs, younger children of rival gang members plus innocent by-standers are getting killed for no reason other than a false idea that violence is a fun game.

Let's not add the general population to revenge killings.

The revenge I do approve of is honest law enforcement clapping handcuffs on a bad guy and tossing him into jail for trial. I do believe in the legal system including it's flaws. Some bad guys do get away without punishment and some innocent people get locked up, but by-passing the whole system is not the way to fight injustice.

Justice can sometimes be unjust. But we need to get rid of the idea that revenge is a good idea. One person or a gang of people do not have the right to decide how justice should be carried out.

I never used to believe in "evil", thinking it was just an "absence of good". Now I'm pretty sure evil exists and it's not just wrong, illegal, or bad choices. It's...well...it's evil.

To stop evil, stop thinking violent revenge is a fine idea.

And stop watching those damn movies and television shows based on revenge.

Thank you.

New Matthew Goode Movies?

IMDb listed four future movies for Matthew Goode in starring or co-starring roles. I'm anxiously awaiting their airing on the big screen. Or on Netflix (DVD.)

Hopefully they will actually make these movies not just plan to make them.

The reason I'm questioning it is because some of the future movies that IMDb listed for Gerard Butler never materialized. Though it's hardly IMDb's fault. I waited for those movies since I was totally in love with Gerry before I abandoned him for Matthew Goode.

Movie stars really do need to make movies now and then or people will forget them.

By the way, there really is a difference between actors and movie stars.

I just love that funny story George Hamilton told about himself. He was walking some place--maybe the beach?--and a little girl said, "Hey. You're that actor." George laughed and said, "I'm not an actor, I'm a movie star!"

Matthew is has evolved into an amazing actor. He doesn't merely play a role, he becomes a character. Watch The Lookout or Watchmen. As I've said before about Leap Year, I still can't believe Declan is really Matthew Goode. He's that good.

I sure wish they'd hurry up and release Burning Man. I've heard from other fans through this blog that it was filmed in Australia. I assume it's a British movie. It's not about THE burning man (like the big straw thing they lit on fire in ancient times -- the wicker man and/or Zozobra) but about a guy that owns a diner. I hope he doesn't really burn the hamburgers despite them name (where did they get that name anyway?) This guy has a daughter which is good since Matthew now has a real daughter and knows how a father ought to behave (One would hope.) (Wait, I just found out it's a son in the movie. Same difference. I also think he plays a broken-hearted man which is usually the usual for Goode movies.

Matthew played a pub & restaurant owner. He was a minor cheft chef in Leap Year. Maybe that's why they hired him for Burning Man. He looks good with a knife. He also had a knife in The Lookout, I believe. For different reasons.

Burning Man may just jump to DVD in the United States and never open in theaters here--the way some of Gerry Butler's movies did. (Dear Frankie, Shattered/Butterfly on a Wheel.)

DVD's are okay with me. I can watch a DVD over and over as many times as I want. I must have seen Leap Year 100 or 150 times.

I often exaggerate to make a point, a funny point.

I think actors like Matthew and movie stars like Gerry ought to stick to the British movie industry. American movies, especially romantic comedies, are so immature and well... I hate to say it, bad. (Though Lear Year was NOT bad. It was a movie you either loved or hated. Not many people ever said "Oh, it was ok.")

A stupid romantic comedy can ruin someones career. Look what happened to Gerry. That was quite a step down from 300 to dumb comedies. I won't mention those, you know which ones.

I'm glad Chasing Liberty didn't nip Matthew's career in the bud. It was a practice movie. A long screen test. Those don't count as real movies. I can forgive him for that one since he made up for it in Imagine Me and You where he played a real person. Well done.

Here's the movies IMDb lists on their Matthew Goode page:

2011 Burning Man (post-production)

2012 Overdrive (pre-production)

2012 Stoker (pre-production)

2013 Crooked House (pre-production)

Yipee and hurry, hurry.

Dark Matter

I checked Dark Matter out of my local library and slipped it in the DVD player. I had an idea (from the cover) that it was a mystery or a crime solving story.

When I realized it wasn't and being puzzled, I paused it and looked it up on IMDb.

Dark Matter staring Liu Ye, Aidan Quinn & Meryl Streep, was loosely based on the graduate student that flipped out a number of years ago and opened fire on several of his classmates and professors.

I researched the true story behind it...and then how the movie differed as to character and motive development and decided I didn't like the true story or where the movie headed with it.

I stopped the DVD player, put the DVD back in the case and returned it to the library without taking another look. (It's nice we don't have to rewind DVDs.)

I can't handle difficult plots (based on true incidents or otherwise) that bring out the unfairness and/or tragedy of human life in a too realistic way.

I don't necessarily want everything to be funny, happy, light and sugary. But this just wasn't my "cup of tea" even though it's about some subjects I do like: academia and astronomy.

[Aside: Don't ask me about that stuff. I was under the mistaken impression that A Beautiful Mind was science fiction. Imagine my shock when it really wasn't spies chasing John Nash around campus.]

Even if stories about pain and/or tragedy are not for me, you can still watch DM and decide for yourself. This might be one of the good movies. It's good acting, good script, fascinating and classy. Great music, too.

Perhaps you might decide it's NOT about pain or tragedy.

We don't all have to like the same cup of tea (or movies). Earl Grey?

The Young Visiters

Click on title above for particulars about this movie.

This felt like a strange movie to me. It wasn't bad, but I'm stumped what to say good about it. But being a highly wordy person, I will try.

To start, it's not like any other movie I've seen (I skipped the Johnny Depp version of Alice in Wonderland as too bizarre for me. And too animated.) Visiters was remotely similar, I suppose, but not intended as bizarre. More in the cute category.

Jim Broadbent pays the main character and since he is in every other British movie he's evidently a big star. It also stars Hugh Laurie (of House fame), Lyndsey Marshal who's fabulous, and Bill Nighy who is also magnificent as a character actor--I hardly recognized him, though I did in the Pirates movies (joking,of course.)

It's refreshing to see films starring normal-looking people instead of beautiful-eyed, glistening-toothed, muscular hero-actors young enough to be my grandsons. (Except Miss Marshal who's pretty and by no means too old to be my granddaughter. And her costumes and acting weren't bad either.)

I saw Broadbent recently as title character in Longford. Everyone was good and he was exceptionally good. He probably won some sort of award for it.

Visiters was based on a book written by 9-year old Daisy Ashford. It has all the qualities of romance and royalty (characters, settings and costumes) as understood by a nine-year old.

This circumstance creates a strange humor--maybe not laugh-out-loud funny, but witty humor with a large dose of silliness we have come to know and love (?) in British movies (think of Hyacinth Bucket for example.)

If you want a break from inane American TV sitcoms, computer-graphics or severely obscure feature length films, rent Visiters. It's not exactly The Tudors, but very British and refreshingly different than the usual fare dished up to American viewers--meaning viewers who still possess a sense of humor not the comatose ones who can stick to their reruns of WWF SmackDown and My Name is Earl.

PS: I didn't misspell Visiters. It was Daisy's way. In addition, it's not a kid-movie. It's a look at the world through the eyes of a child and would be baffling to a child that already sees the world like that.

SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE

Click title above for a list of awards and wins for this movie and cast.

Beaucoup beaucoup awards. That's French for "mucho" or "a lot" in English.

I don't know how I missed seeing this movie up until now. It hit the theaters January 1, 2001.

It's a good movie. Everyone was great. John Malkovich has a little trouble with accents but it was easy to overlook them.

Willem Dafoe was unbelievably good considering most people haven't got a clue who he is. His costume and make-up were so well done no one would recognize him anyway.

I don't know why Dafoe was nominated and won Academy award for that. He clearly stole the show. (Maybe Malkovich's agent was better at contracts.)

The movie was clearly a fantasy and in no way "horror" genre. It wasn't exactly a drama either.

In fact, it probably doesn't fit any category other than weird. It stands alone. This is true, take my word for it.

There are some funny elements undoubtedly designed to make fun of the original movie: A German silent film in 1922 called Nosferatu-Eine Symphonie des Grauens (Nosferatu-a Symphony of Horror). It was the movie that this movie was about filming it. Or however you say that. (English teacher please forgive me. I really WAS listening.)

See it for yourself. I can't figure out what else to say about it other than I liked it.

La Vie en Rose

I haven't been writing about movies lately. Frankly I finally feel recovered from my recent illness, spine and heart surgeries and bad bouts of depression (not to mention dealing with grief over the death of my husband of 20+ years.) All occurring all in the space of the last 3 years. Whew.

Since I am recovered (except for occasional pain in my hip and walking with a cane) I feel restored to nearly full mobility (and learning to carry things with one hand--quite a challenge).

Being well again means I've been busy!

Since I'm busier and more active I just haven't taken the time to write/blog. When I'm not spending time with friends (usually eating out), I study, knit, cook, spend time with my dog (who seems just as peppy in the morning as I do and just as creaky and stiff in the evening), I also squeeze in time to read mysteries and watch movies.

I've been watching my way through Masterpiece PBS series--Marple, Poirot, Inspector Lynley. (Anxious for second season of Sherlock.)
______________________________________________

Last night I watched the DVD of La Vie en Rose. I started it rather late and it wasn't over until midnight, but I didn't miss one second of it. (And of course I read it since it was in French with English subtitles.)

The fact that it was in French with subtitles faded from my awareness as I fell deeper and deeper into the story and the movie. It was one of those movies where I suspend reality and am unaware of my surroundings and myself.

What can I say about this movie that has not already been said? It won numerous awards the world over especially for the lead Marion Cotillard. *See below. (She has most recently appeared in Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio.)

It was ... I don't know. It's beyond description. A ton of praise cannot be adequate.

It was BEAUTIFUL. At the end I felt awe and thankfulness that I was able to experience it.

Edith Piaf's life was full of difficulties and heart breaking events but done in such a way as to inspire endearment and gratitude for ones own life. You'll want to turn your life into a song.

I recommend this movie to everyone over the age of 12 and under the age of 110.

Even if you know the life story of Edith Piaf and the entire plot of the movie in advance, it is still a GOOD GOOD movie.

The songs were fabulous. I can see why Piaf's singing was so beloved. She must have held audiences enthralled. The singing, though not in Piaf's voice, was wonderfully done.

The acting was beyond good especially for the lead Marion Cotillard. I could not tear my eyes away from her while she was "singing." It was exceptionally amazing.

This movie will never fade away. It'll be a classic.

Please do watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it.

P.S. I'm not sure if I saw whatever they call "Extended Version" or not. But it's good no matter what, if nothing more than the songs and performance of Cotillard.

*Marion Cotillard won seven Best Actress Awards for her portrayal of Édith Piaf in La Vie en Rose:
The Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
The Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Motion Picture (musical or comedy)
The Prix Lumière for Best Actress
The Golden Space Needle Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2007 Seattle International Film Festival
The BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
The César Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
The Czech Lion Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
info from Wikipedia

La Vie en Rose (2007)
The life story of singer Édith Piaf.
Director: Olivier Dahan, Writers: Olivier Dahan, Isabelle Sobelman
Stars: Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud and Pascal Greggory

Lots of Movie, Lots of Opinions

I have been watching old movies. (So I can advise people what movies to stream or order from Netflix, or buy if they're rich enough and love movies as much as I do and love tossing away money for pleasure rather than saving for they're old age.

I will mention the movies/my opinions when I have time (in between watching movies and thinking.)

Laterz

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Click on title of the movie to link to IMDb (Internet Movie Database)



My latest rental from Netflix: The Social Network about the guy(s) that invented Facebook. True story or as true as you can get from Hollywood.

It was done in flashbacks (I think) during the court cases where a bunch of guys were suing the dude that made millions of dollars on the idea. (He's now the youngest billionaire in the country. Or maybe the world.)

The movie was mostly talking. A lot of it was in computer programming jargon. But that wasn't really important to the plot so you can tune out the details of that unless you actually understand it. (It might be humorous for all I know.)

The movie was basically a bunch of computer nerds and a couple of jocks, all talking way too fast and getting drunk.

I did get the feel of what it's like on a modern college campus. Harvard wasn't exactly like the college in Animal House but close. (Wasn't Animal House a true story too? I seem to remember I was at that college?)

I got the feel of what a young people's party constitutes now-a-days. It's probably similar to when I went to college. But I was drunk and don't actually remember.

I found this movie to be a study of a guy who didn't have a clue about life and finally realized he was a minor jerk who traded in friends for making money.

It wasn't a comedy but wasn't really a drama either. I suppose it could be called a docu-drama, whatever that is.)

My favorite line: the college guys who thought Mark Whatever stole their idea were discussing whether to sue the guy or beat him up. One of the jocks in the debate said they didn't need to get the Sopranos to beat him up. "We can do that ourselves. I'm 6 foot 5, two-hundred and twenty, and there's TWO of me." He was a twin. (Heck, I spoiled the only funny thing in the movie. Sorry.)

The Social Network was okay, but not great, maybe one notch above The King's Speech but way below Avatar. It was aimed at a specific audience (and much younger than me.)

If you find stories about computer programming exciting, go for it.

Movies and Books

I'm doing something, rather two somethings, that I just LOVE to do (especially since I'm old & widowed. Think about it.) I'm reading books and watching movies.

I just finished a wonderfully long biography of Julia Child Appetite for Life and the "last" Matthew Goode movie my list.

It was actually Matthew's first movie--South from Granada, a 1920's memoir by author Gerald Brenan. It's a Spanish movie but worth the trouble of reading the subtitles while keeping an eye on the actors and action. There was a delicious scene of a younger Matthew, with golden reddish hair, dancing with his young senorita completely nude. They were both well-endowed. Gotta love those foreign movies.

Now I'm watching my way though Murdoch Mysteries from my local library. They're hour-long Canadian TV series episodes. Good, funny and free. And all the actors and actresses are good-looking with their Victorian clothes and "new-fangled" inventions like portraits/profiles, fingermarks/fingerprints, prototype X-rays and lie-detectors. The episode with the hooded figure that shoots arrows into people, is my favorite so far. I guessed the culprit right away, but it was fun watching Detective Murdoch guess it the same time he took an arrow in his upper arm. (Oops. Is that a spoiler? Sorry.)


Another thing, Canadian shows evidently allow all the actors to speak with their own accents--so you have Canadian, British, Irish, American and some undecipherable accents all in the same show. Unless, of course, they're doing it on purpose and it's not really real.

So. Recently I streamed a movie from Netflix about the romance of George Sand and Franz Liszt. George Sand (her pen name) was evidently a liberated woman who wore pants and smoked cigarettes years before the rest of us, and Liszt was a bit effeminate. They made a perfect match.

"The world will know and understand me someday. But if that day does not arrive, it does not greatly matter. I shall have opened the way for other women." George Sand

George Sand, so they say, was a magnificent writer in her day. So I downloaded her novel Mauprat on my Kindle. Her writing IS good, at least in translation, but it's damn slow and I can only take it in small doses.

Amazing fact: I used to read a book first and then catch the movie. Loved the books but often found the movies lacking. Now, I do the opposite, love a movie and then love the book.

I loved Julie and Julia based on the book by Julie Powell who cooked her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and blogged about it. She's now an author. Darn, I wish I'd thought of that first.

I read some reviews on Amazon from people who didn't like this book. I, on the other hand, loved the movie so much that after watching it nearly as many times I did Leap Year, I had to take a look at the book. I downloaded a "sample" on my Kindle. I found her style of writing so funny I just had to get it. So I did. Yay, Kindle, instant gratification.

I guess a lot of people don't get her witty sense of humor. I have that problem too--people don't seem to get my sense of humor. They think I'm serious. And stupid. Or at least weird, which is okay with me. But until they catch up, I'm still going to keep it up. As George said, "The world will know and understand me someday. But if that day does not arrive, it does not greatly matter..."

Julie Powell mentioned her mother's horrified at her choices of where to live. Julie said she once lived in "an adobe in Middle-of-Nowhere, New Mexico."

Now, since I DO live in Middle-of-Nowhere, New Mexico, I got a good laugh-out-loud.

Julie uses a lot of cliches but in new and unexpected ways. Genius.

So, here I am in the middle of nowhere, reading two books, watching movies and old TV series on DVDs in my pajamas. You gotta love being a writer.

Since the weather's warm and sunny now I get outside often to play with the dogs and my grandkids (not necessarily in that order.)

And of course, I blog.

I tried to write for profit once but it cost me money to try to sell the damn books. So now I give them for presents and toss my writing out here in cyberland for free.

Enjoy. There's more where this came from. Toodle-Ooo

SUNSHINE CLEANING

I've been watching movies and not writing about them. So here goes.

I saw Sunshine Cleaning on Netflix streaming a few days ago. It was a 2009 movie opening first at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008.

The movie had closed-captioning but was wide-screen format (with a wide screen computer the characters looked short and wide. Fortunately my eyes can adjust that, making it appear in proportion.)

Main Cast: Amy Adams as Rose Lorkowski, Emily Blunt as Norah Lorkowski, Alan Arkin as Joe Lorkowski, and Mary Lynn Rajskub as Lynn (who also appeared in Julie and Julia with Amy Adams.) Written by Megan Holley. Directed by Christine Jeffs.

I expected a comedy. It was a semi-serious movie with a few laughs. It was a professionally done movie, acting flawless, but the plot was not exciting.

The best part of the movie (for me) was the fact it was filmed in Albuquerque, NM, where I live. I recognized many of the buildings and roads.

However, Jonathan Miller, criminal lawyer and author of Rattlesnake Lawyer mystery series who spoke at SouthWest Writers organization in March, said that NM is so unique and different, a writer has to make NM one of the characters. This was missing in Sunshine Cleaning.

For instancee it had only one Hispanic character who didn't even use the NM accent. I don't know why I included this. No one really cares. I find accents fascinating. As it was a "blue collar" story, maybe I missed something.

It was a "slice of life story" more than plot or even character driven.

It was some what dull but not boring. Watching it is up to you.

Impromptu

I watched this movie via Netflix streaming. I had to watch it on my computer's smaller screen with no closed-captioning. The upside is that close up I can hear and understand everything.

It hardly seems appropriate to watch and talk about movies when there are thousands of people suffering in Japan from the earthquakes, tsunami nuclear power plant explosions, not to mention their lack of homes, water, food and gasoline.

I think an escape from reality isn't all a bad thing. If you can avoid feeling guilty for being so well-off and wasting electricity, it's not "bad" to sit down with a movie for a couple hours instead of constantly being worried about the world situation.

Impromptu is a 1991 movie about the woman writer who used the pen name George Sand and the start of her relationship with the composer Chopin. As with all stories based on real people, we have no idea if it was even remotely historical. It was entertaining.

The acting was good. It starred Judy Davis and Hugh Grant with a good supporting cast which included Mandy Patinkin.

The costumes and accents were also good. I think it's beneficial to the audience when the producers keep the accents from all characters the same. It was a modified English probably spoken by early Americans as influenced by British. The accent used by Chopin was not overly done. None of them tried to do French and Polish. (It was set in France and Sand was French. Chopin was Polish.)

Anyway, I finally understood why the movies use costumes and accents. It's not to portray people accurately (though that helps) but it's so that the actors can get into and remain in character. That's wonderful.

So, if you want to find a movie to stream from Netflix, it's one of the movies available. (Many of the movies from Netflix are only on DVD and that's takes time to mail, receive, mail, receive...

PS: I was just wondering the other day why I have never seen Hugh Grant in anything other than a comedy. He was young in this. It was a serious role. He was believable and did well.

Bridget Jones's Diary

Click title above for IMDb info about this movie

Bridget Jones' Diary is shown on television every now and again. I certainly hope they continue to show it. There are always new "fans" and repeat "fans" to make it worthwhile.

As romantic comedies go it's one of the classier ones. It's cute and well done. I think people of all ages are able to appreciate it, watch it over and over with as much enjoyment as the first time they saw it. The story line is good, though I think we all know true love doesn't really happen that fast with as little basis the movies show us.

It starred Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. The movie came out in 2001 when Hugh and Colin were both 40 years old. Everyone spoke with British accents including Rene who is, as far as I know, not British, so I assume it was a British movie. (And I have no idea how old she was or is.)

I was musing the other day that even Colin Firth himself has been cursed with the responsibility of all motion picture stars, that of having to do at least one romantic comedy in their lives if they want to further their careers.

I suspect part of the reason is that audiences LOVE romantic comedies, even the sappy ones, regardless what the critics think of them. A good or even so-so romantic comedy can put you on the map and grant you hundreds of die-hard fans forever.

Colin Firth is rather the stiff-upper-lift type of Englishman. He is able to convey a well-rounded character while showing little emotion, just a well placed, intelligent comment. One would hope he gets a role in which he can smile for a change.

Hugh Grant is a bit more silly in his roles even when he is revealed to have a serious or mature side. He plays the attractive, smooth-talking bad-boy
in Diary. Actually he is the type of man I like both in movie roles and unfortunately in real life. He's good in this role without stealing the show away from everyone else.

In short, Renée is adorable, Colin is desirable, and Hugh is lovable. And the script, direction and editing were good.

I would like to see the sequel to Diary again mostly because I have only seen it once. In that one, if I recall correctly, Bridget makes the mistake of falling for the bad-boy's lies AGAIN (haven't we all done that?)but ends up with the sweetie after all.

Man, he's a forgiving guy. Are all British men like that? One would hope that all men were...but, you know, romance is fantasy after all.

Thanks to everyone for bringing this movie to the big screen and now a lot small ones. It's enjoyable.

Another thing, I have a feeling Matthew Goode probably hoped Leap Year would be a popular mainstream movie like Bridget Jones's Diary instead of just a regular romantic comedy. Maybe the critics didn't like Leap Year, and Matthew didn't either, but millions or at least thousands of people loved it. And Matthew, like I said before in this blog, all movies aren't Shakespeare or, in this case, Bridget Jones's Diary.

TV MOVIES: Lying to Be Perfect

Click on title to see IMDb entry on this movie

Photo of Poppy Mongomery

Some of the good movies don't get their start at the theater box office. They're the made-for-a-particular-channel movies. And I don't particularly mean HBO or other premium channels or even PBS mini-series.

I'm speaking of the movies made for Hallmark and Lifetime and other channels. Many of them feature one or two known television stars (mostly from a popular series or a previous series) and a lot of supporting actors no one ever heard of unless they've seem them in another TV series or movie.

Several other merits of TV movies is that they have breaks for commercials built in and don't just cut for a break in the middle of a sentence. They don't have to cut out pieces of them to fit in commercials. And they don't have much cussing that needs to be bleeped out. (And heck, I remember the days when a movie that was in color instead of black and white was considered a good movie.)

I just watched one today. I use that term loosely 'watched.' Often I have the television on for company or just plain noise when I'm doing something else. Today I was knitting and straightening my room. (That usually mean I move things around from from pile to pile or stick them in another room.)

It was Lying to Be Perfect. I think that was a take off on Dying to Be Perfect. I suspected it would have something to do with dieting and was curious if they were going to spread a bunch of crap about dieting can save you, etc.

It starred Poppy Montgomery who played an FBI agent on Without a Trace. She's British but does a good American accent. I assume it's because she lived here now.

In this movie she played a "fat" girl with two "fat" friends. She worked as an editor at a publishing firm. She was an aspiring writer and when her proposal was turned down by her firm she invented a young beautiful British girl who won fame and a book contract with her firm.

In the meantime, she and her two women friends made a pact to start living healthy, exercising and eating right, and raising their self-esteem so they could start living the lives they wanted.

Of course the main girl had to confess to lying about her secret (which I would just claimed was my pen name, of course.) She had to reveal her identity eventually and by then, of course, she was a knockout.

But all the girls realized that it was their sense of self-worth and their attitudes towards themselves that needed healing not just their overweight.

I think they did a tolerable job of showing women losing weight without giving women the world over the idea that just looking good is the solution to all their problems. I think a couple of the lessons they "taught" was about finding courage to be yourself, learn to accept and love yourself, and if you're good at something you just have to express yourself with your talent as yourself and the truth will prove it to you. And the truth never hurts.

To be absolutely clear, some of the movies on LMN, Lifetime and Hallmark and other fancy channels can be quite awful. But some of them are quite good. Written by real writers and played by good actors even if they aren't famous or looking perfect.

If you happen to tune in to one you don't like, turn it off. Remember my rule "Life is too short to read crappy books and watch crappy movies." (So stop doing that unless you're attempting to write a movie blog.)

CEMETERY JUNCTION

Writers & Directors: Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
Staring: Christian Cooke, Felicity Jones, Tom Hughes, Jack Doolan
With: Ricky Gervais, Ralph Fiennes, and Matthew Goode


I watched two movies yesterday. Black Swan at 4 Hills Theater, Albuquerque, NM, and the Netflix rental I saw at home afterwards was Cemetery Junction. I rented it to see Matthew Goode in yet another role. He had a smaller part but was, as always, good. I enjoyed seeing yet another hair style, and hear him use a different British accent than his own.

It's a UK movie from 2010, set in 1973, in a neighborhood where Ricky Gervais grew up. Cemetery Junction is an actual road junction in Reading, Britain. According to this story, it's a town in which people get stuck and live the same lives as their parents, never quite getting away to the outside world. I don't know if that's true, I've never been there (and never plan to visit.)

I am beginning to notice the subtle differences between English accents in Great Britain. They have a distinctive accent in Reading. I enjoyed hearing it in Cemetery Junction.

The movie is a comedy. Three boys--changing into men--discover themselves while in repetitious pastimes that they realize they must soon give up. They find themselves changed by these circumstances and by their own choices.

The town in the movie did look pretty dull. (And some of the residents were quite weird.) No wonder the kids had to create their own excitement. A couple times it landed them in jail. Luckily they had an older lovable cop friend who gave them some guidance.

It's not a laugh-out-loud comedy. It's not silly. It's touching and funny and thought-provoking. Oddly enough, Ricky Gervais who co-wrote and co-directed this story, played a non-funny part as one of the boy's father.

It has a happy ending and nothing awful happens in the movie. My favorite kind of movie.

I liked it better than Black Swan which I also saw yesterday.) I would watch Cemetery Junction again. (I might even rent Black Swan after it's on DVD awhile. I will have forgotten most of it by then.)

Enjoy Cemetery Junction if you like British comedy. (I wish more young adults would watch movies like this one, they might learn something. Though didn't we all have to learn to grow up the hard way?)