Sunday, January 28, 2007

Why don't you pass the time with a game of solitaire?


Watching - A lot in the last few days! From the really, terribly, awfully bad Snakes on a Plane (can I tell you just how horrible this was?!)









To the mediocre Lady in the Water (this could have been so much better!)







To the heart-wrenchingly sad We are Marshall





To the true classic The Manchurian Candidate (of course, the original!). Of course today's quote comes from it! There are several good lines from this film however. Lansbury is superb, and so I honor her with the line that she is the reason for.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Of the four aircraft hijacked that day, United 93 was the only one that did not reach its target. It crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03am

Haven't been able to get on to post - started to and it was unavailable.


Watching - Baran foreign film nominated for Oscar in 2001. Set in Iran. Moving, sweet and sad. Beautiful. Actions speaking louder than words.


United 93 nominated this year for 2 Oscars. Haunting. Powerful. Sad.




Agnes of God - had 3 Oscar nominations in 1986. Well-told and well-acted. Kept me involved.

Monday, January 22, 2007

The Women Prefer the Traditional Monsters

I felt the quote for this post was appropriate since all my reading about vampires! It was said by Martin Landau playing Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood - an EXCELLENT film!


Reading - Undead and Unpopular by Mary Janice Davidson


Actually I was kind of ticked because there was a novella in between it is and Undead and Unreturnable. I went ahead and requested it from the library, because there are new characters who were introduced in the novella, but I didn't wait to read this one. Not the best of the series.
Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
This is another "vampire" storyline series. I'd actually forgotten the premise behind it until I started it. It is the 5th in the series, and it's been a couple of years ago that I read the first four.




Sunday, January 21, 2007

If You Want to be Understood...Listen

Watching -

The boys and I watched Gridiron Gang in the afternoon. It was "gritty" and I thought a good look into teen boys needs and wants. It was based on a true story, and I felt it was inspiring.




Today's quote comes from the second movie watched.
Dave and I then went to continue our Oscar nominated movie quest - although the announcements are on Tuesday. Tonight it was Babel. I was sad after watching, but it is definitely a thinking person's movie. Very intense. I'll be reflecting on it for a while.



Reading - I like "fluff" reading about as much as I like intense movies! I realized that one of my favorite fluff writers has put out two books since I read her vampire series, so I picked up Undead and Unreturnable by Mary Janice Davidson. It is fun, light-hearted reading while I continue What Was She Thinking.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

What *is* a cocktail dress? Something to spill cocktails on.

Watching - Yesterday afternoon I watched Bell, Book and Candle with Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak prior to their filming Vertigo. It was okay, not a great film, but had a very decent cast, including Jack Lemon, who is always wonderful!


Last night, while the boys watched NCIS, I was lucky enough to catch two of my favorites (William Powell and Jean Arthur) in a fun movie from 1936 The Ex-Mrs. Bradford. There were a few moments where I think the movie got confusing because of the number of suspects, but it was a delight to watch these two and the butler, played by Eric Blore. The quote for the day is one of the exchanges between Powell and Arthur that got a chuckle from me, because the delivery was just perfect!

Reading - I finished Marley and Me the other night and it was such a sweet story. It really makes me appreciate my wild puppy/dog of Trixie! I'm now concentrating on What Was She Thinking. I'm also really wanting to get to the library to pick up several holds.

Monday, January 15, 2007

They could be land-rich bankrupt aristocracy without a penny to their name...

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Duchess Sara the Uncanny of Greater Sodbury
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title


Since I saw the peculiar aristocratic title generator on someone else's blog, I decided it was a good time to reference The Corpse Bride , a fun, little Tim Burton animated film. I definitely fit the "without a penny to their name" part, just not the "land-rich", unfortunately!

Saturday, January 13, 2007

This part of my life... this part right here? This is called "happyness."



Watching: Will Smith most likely will be nominated for his performance in this movie. He is able to hit a range of emotions and I forgot I was watching a movie. Excellent performance and again, an eye-opening movie. Homelessness is just around the corner.

Also, finished the first series of Monarch of the Glen. I watched 4 episodes today, and am looking forward to the next series!



Reading: I'm still reading Marley and Me but I also picked up What Was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller, in preparation for the movie that will probably be getting a couple of Oscar nods.