Thoughtful Thursday
Have a good Thursday - almost the weekend!
Have a good Thursday - almost the weekend!
Movie Review Madness - Brooklyn
The new film Brooklyn is an immigrant tale written by Nick Hornby. 1950s small town Ireland does not offer a lot of room for growth. It’s a land of predictability – you live, marry, and die. But more is meant for Eilis Lacey. Her sister Rose arranges via the priest for Eilis to travel to Brooklyn, live in a respectable boarding house, and work at a department store. Rose will stay in Ireland, continue working as a bookkeeper, and care for their mother. So Eilis ventures into an unknown world. After a bout of homesickness, she soon meets a young man. It’s shocking but he’s Italian. But it’s not Ireland. It’s America, and it’s okay. Eilis grows into her job – learning to laugh and interact with customers. The local priest (Jim Broadbent) sponsors her night school so she can achieve her dream to someday become an accountant. She’s blossoming before our eyes into an independent young woman – an American.
Circumstance bring her back to Ireland and she has to face her past to decide on her future. The auld sod is in her heart, but she’s torn. She has a new life in Brooklyn. This tender movie is sweet, poignant, and well-acted. Saoirse Ronan’s clear blue eyes captivate the screen. She’s excellent and you root for her. Jim Broadbent is perfect as the local priest looking out for her. Julie Walters is a welcome presence as the boarding house marm. Emory Cohen, Tony the Italian suitor, is a charmer. And Domhnall Gleeson is the Irish lad in the old home town.
Brooklyn presents choices, growth, humor, love, and tells a tale about home and what the word embodies. It’s rich and presents the energy of America. It’s a good movie to see in this holiday season and to give thanks.
Doorknobs Issue 80 - I Have Two Stories
http://www.iceflow.com/doorknobs/DB.html
Not bragging too much, but I'm always pleased to have stories in this journal.
Enjoy my wacky darkness
Doorknobs
Robin Dunn—Leaving the Globe—Winner
Joanne Faries—Fall from Grace
Ryan Pillarsy—From Arbendale Before Rainfall
Anna Bálint—Saint Anne
Bev Vines-Haines—Saints Marching In
Roger Leatherwood—No Saint
Hayward Fault Line
Bev Vines-Haines—Achieving Sainthood—Winner
James Shaffer—Saint Januarius
Joanne Faries—No Man, Just Me
Kristen Caven—Vino Vidi Vesuvia
Dorsals
Steve Rodriguez—Fictitious Memories—Winner
Anna Bálint—Boy on a Bicycle
Sandy Vrooman—Googling Down Memory Lane
Tapas
Frank Stewart Symons—Saint Cecilia—Winner
James Shaffer—Saint Anthony
Abha Iyengar—Living in Hope
Roger Leatherwood—Joanna Lost at Seaside
Trudy Cusella—Recollection
Cairo Room
Lester L. Weil—Cigarettes, Whiskey, and Wild Wild Women
KJ Hannah Greenberg—Her Bulbous Eyes
John A. Ward—The Saints We Know—John A. Ward
Andrew Ramer—Lament: in several fonts, sizes, colors
Book Review - Career Of Evil
JK Rowling, writing as Robert Galbraith, is so darn good. I’ve featured her first two novels – The Cuckoo’s Calling and The Silkworm – and now she’s back with Career in Evil. I think this is the best Cormoran Strike book yet.
From the cover blurb – When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg. Her boss, detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible – and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.
Yowza – now that will make you turn pages.
Indeed, the book progresses with some grisly murders. It’s obvious a serial murderer is on the loose. Cormoran and Robin are under police surveillance. They, in turn, are doing their own investigative work. Meanwhile, chapters offer up the killer’s viewpoint and as the reader, we have no idea who this is. We are as stumped as Robin and Strike. Meanwhile, Robin is maybe getting married, maybe not. Trying to maintain a relationship is very tough in this business. And at one point, Robin and Strike are at odds – now that makes it tough for the reader. We root for both of them – they are our constant.
Cover blurb – A fiendishly clever mystery with unexpected twists around every corner, Career of Evil is also a gripping story of a man and a woman at a crossroads in their personal and professional lives.
I love JK Rowling. She truly is a superb writer with a clever imagination and a gift for rich descriptions and characters. This is her best mystery yet and kept me guessing until the very end. Turn on all the lights, snuggle under an afghan and treat yourself to a great read.
Movie Review Madness: Creed
The original Rocky was a sleeper movie – low budget, heartwarming story, and a lovable lunk mumbling “Yo, Adrian.” It won the Oscar for Best Picture back in 1977. Then the sequels arrived, each more outlandish than the next and the series became an excessive joke. Now, after a long time, Creed arrives on screen and it harks back to the original – a heartwarming story, a lovable lunk mumbles “Yo Adrian”, and there’s a kid with a chip on his shoulder who manages to prove to himself that he’s worthy of his name and he’s a fighter.
Michael B. Jordan is Adonis “Donny” Johnson, illegitimate son of Apollo Creed – the champion boxer back in the day. Donny fights his way through foster care until Apollo’s second wife takes him in and provides a home long after Apollo died. Donny never knew his father. Fast forward to today when Donny is winning fights in Mexico, quits his respectable financial job, moves to Philadelphia, and seeks out the Italian Stallion himself – Rocky Balboa. Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) keeps a low profile these days running a restaurant. He has no intention of taking on a boxer to train. But something about this kid, the history, and the chance for redemption for Apollo.
Now the focus of the movie is on pelatihan – running through the streets of Philly (which looks awesome in this film), the physical and mental strain, the slow build-up to a huge match against Ricky “Pretty Boy” Conlan – a tough boy from Liverpool with a grand reach, fast feet, and a faster lip. Who has the staying power? Adonis Creed who must acknowledge his name and the demons that come with it? Or Rocky, old guy, who gets a medical diagnosis that ain’t pretty? They have to fight together.
Creed is a boxing movie and yes it culminates in the Big Fight. But it’s way more than that. It’s about esteem, family, history, guts, determination , roots, plus heart and soul. Michael B. Jordan is excellent – he’s physically ripped, but he’s more than that. His face reflects his feelings and you want to root for him. Sly Stallone is great too – he’s always been underrated, and he shows a deft touch as a mentor. Philly shines, and yes, you want to run up those Art Museum steps with the Rocky theme wafting over the city. Step into the ring and soar.
Santa Boot Sunday
Wish I could deliver this in person
Tis the season
Book Review - Art Of Memoir
Mary Karr’s The Liar’s Club was a sensational memoir. She followed it up with Cherry and Lit. Now she’s using her skills as a writer and years as a professor and combining the two for The Art of Memoir. It is not a step by step how-to book, but rather a general discussion of the elements needed to put a personal story down on paper. From the cover blurb – she breaks open our concepts of memory and identity, and illuminates the cathartic power of reflecting on the past: anybody with an inner life or complicated history, whether writer or reader, will relate.
She uses other writers as examples and also delves into her own process. She admits to fear. She describes the concern of baring her soul, facing demons, and dealing with her own family and their perspective on their roles in her life. Mary Karr says, “ In some ways, writing a memoir is knocking yourself out with your own fist, if it’s done right.”
Everyone has a story, but how do you make yours interesting to others? She discusses all the senses and how to throw your reader into the life you are depicting. She says, “ Everyone has a past, and every past spawns fierce and fiery emotions about what it means.” If you are writing a memoir, you are taking a side and trying to be fair in the exposition of the tale. Will the reader stay on your side? Or will they drift and wonder what you are hiding? It’s a dance of sorts, and words are the musical pacing.
I enjoyed The Art of Memoir and marked off many pages for the wisdom, wit, and advice Ms. Karr shares. She’s been a favorite writer of mine and does not disappoint. P. 215 Writing, regardless of the end result – whether good or bad, published or not, well reviewed or slammed – means celebrating beauty in an often ugly world. And you do that by fighting for elegance and beauty, redoing or cutting the flabby, disordered parts. Whether you are a writer or a reader, The Art of Memoir will strike a chord in your heart and have you digging into your own life story.
Leaving You Wordless Wednesday
Star Wars - never watched 'em
(But at work, all my guys have discussed the movies and the new trailers so thoroughly, that I am immersed in all things Lucas mania and more. We hope J.J.Abrams has NOT screwed it up)
(But at work, all my guys have discussed the movies and the new trailers so thoroughly, that I am immersed in all things Lucas mania and more. We hope J.J.Abrams has NOT screwed it up)
Movie Review Madness - Spotlight
Spotlight is fast paced and tells quite a tale based on true events. I’ve always liked a “hold the presses” movie and this is old fashioned news beat story telling. Back in 2001, the Boston Globe’s special news team – Spotlight- started researching information on priest abuse. The numbers grew and they realized they had more than a few priests involved – this was a whole system of lies. Interviews, knocking on doors, confirmation of names, and more research yielded an amazing sad expose of lives forever affected due to the trust given to the Catholic church.
Tight film making and great acting gives Spotlight a classy edge. Michael Keaton is the editor raised in Boston and entrenched in the parish affected. Liev Schreiber is the new comer to the area who questions the fiber of the system. Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams are the boots on the ground researchers, digging ever deeper and getting the necessary interviews to confirm the pain and suffering of former altar boys. Stanley Tucci plays the lawyer who’s been fighting the church for a long time. The cast interaction heightens the drama and sense of urgency to the story.
Oscar buzz surrounds this film and it’s a worthy contender. If you want a well done, smart film experience, then train your eyes on Spotlight.
Saturday Sweet
Just me and a Betty Crocker pouch of peanut butter cookie mix - add egg, oil, and water. So easy to bring joy.
Tis the season
Sunday Christmas Reading
Or sit and tell your own Christmas tales - the magic is there
Monday Christmas Clothes
Thanks Linda T for my sweater. We find it amusing.........she's from New York and I'm from PA
(She got them on super duper sale at an after season sale last year)
Tis the season
Tuesday Christmas Penguin
Yes, we supported education and have amusement to boot
Wednesday Christmas Wacky
Tis the season
Christmas Eve
Bountiful Season
Christmas cheer and goodwill
from mountains to prairie to sea
rooms glow festive with candles
bells chime to bless you and me
pray for soldiers' safe return
full stomachs and treats
peace in all hearts
delightful friends shall meet
family hugs all around
laughs and stories galore
let this spirit prevail
holiday season and more
Christmas Day
Gift by Joanne Faries
take time to say thanks
thanks to all loved ones
remember your past
shed tears of joy, not sorrow
breathe deep and look around
no phone, no electronics, no gadgets
breathe deep and look around
let your mind take the snapshot
of the moments
of love
repost from blog 12/8/12
Be back at New Year's. Until then - Peace and Love
Be back at New Year's. Until then - Peace and Love
Happy New Year
Peace and good cheer for the year. I wish you health and happiness
Joanne
Ease Into January
So, Happy Monday. Back on Saturday, a friend and I wandered into a store that was "giving" Christmas stuff away. This fellow caught my eye and I decided he could hang out in the backyard for awhile.
If a scarecrow keeps the crows away from the crops, will a metal snowman keep away feet of snow and ice??
It's worth a shot. I'll let you know if it works
Movie Review: Star Wars - The Force Awakens
I had to go see Star Wars: The Force Awakens just because. This wasn’t just a movie. It was a life event. I did not grow up enamored by Star Wars – I don’t think I’ve actually seen the original one from start to finish. It’s more of a cultural thing for me – I know the key players, and the whole “Luke, I am your father” thing. Just to participate in water cooler chat, I had to see this movie. And I did see it – I paid matinee price of $4.75 for regular digital cinema. I did not pre-buy. Instead my husband and I walked up fifteen minutes before show time on the opening Friday, and purchased seats. Theater ended up full enough but not packed. Folks stayed hushed, and I was entertained. Has my life changed? No. Will I need to see this again and again? No – once is enough. Could I participate in work conversation on that Monday? Yes, and I brought a different perspective for the young men who had such high expectations.
I understood the plot line without knowing the previous six movies. I enjoyed Harrison Ford as Han Solo – he seemed amused himself, like a kid who could lighten up and ultimately collect a large paycheck. General Leia (Carrie Fisher) has lived her nine lives and more. Our new heroine, Rey, played by Daisy Ridley is excellent. She has energy and chutzpah. Stormtrooper, pahlawan Finn (John Boyega) is interesting as a conflicted warrior. Chewbacca growls. The new droid, BB-8, is very cute and a star. I won’t go into the story – it’s the old good vs. evil interplanetary style.
One problem, according to my guys at work – Adam Driver as Kylo Ren is a weenie. He’s in all black with a helmet and the breathing voice thing, but he’s NO Darth Vadar. Yes, there’s a light saber fight that’s shocking, but then what?
Ultimately, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is not overpoweringly new film making. J.J. Abrams, the director, stayed true to the franchise and delivered a solid meal, but not a flight of fancy. It has potential with Rey and Finn, and maybe it can fly in some new directions. But for now, after all these years, it awoke, yawned, and stretched but did not soar.
P.S. I realize I am not the sasaran audience. The box office $$$$$$$$$$ are making Disney very, very happy.
January Poem - Needled
Needled
I believe
I believe in Christmas obliteration
Joyous decoration occurs in early December
painstaking placement of treasured ornaments
heartwarming welcome to Santas and snowmen
time honored traditions prevail
two foot tall nutcrackers greet everyone at
the front door, while jaunty caroler figures
sing from bookshelves galore
the tree stands tall, as a red velvet cloth hides
its ugly stand. Shiny packages, complete with bows
beckon to be opened. Up until December 25th, Christmas
poses with no bad side for the camera.
then
it is over.
naked, the fake tree lists to port.
like a minesweeper I whoosh the figurines and baubles
into boxes. Done. Finished. Farewell faithful holiday
treats. Gaudy reds and greens seem too garish for January
Christmas does protest and tries to linger
lights refuse original packaging
one Santa hides on a far shelf, daring to be found and boxed
and no matter how often you vacuum, there are needles
the tree, in pieces, is stuffed into the attic
a week later needles
two weeks later needles
Easter arrives needles
I believe they win
by Joanne Faries
Movie Review - Joy (Or Lack Thereof)
Joy is not. It’s not a happy movie. It’s not an exceptional movie. It’s a rather annoying movie. I give it a solid C. A Facebook friend and his wife loved it. We had a short written discussion about it and agreed to disagree. Can I appreciate a character driven movie? Yes, absolutely. Have I liked previous David O. Russell flicks? Yes – Silver Lining Playbook and American Hustle were excellent. I found Joy rather tedious and just was not drawn into the line of storytelling.
Based on a true story, Joy is an extremely smart gal, destined for great things, who ends up working to try to make ends meet, to keep her kids fed, to keep her mother able to just watch soap operas, to keep her ex-husband still living in her basement and doing his singing gigs, and to take in her crabby father (an annoying Robert De Niro). The house is falling apart, and she seems to be the only sane one in the crowd. Jennifer Lawrence is excellent as Joy. I had no perkara with her at all – she projects a fierceness and intelligence that leaps from the screen. I can be invested in her character and I wanted her to succeed.
She’s always been a thinker and an inventor, and she arrives at a concept for a new mop – one that has a detachable head for throwing in the washing machine, one that has a wringer effect so you don’t have to touch the dirty mop with your own hands. Ingenious! She creates a model, manages to convince Bradley Cooper’s QVC guy to take her on, and she appears on the show to sell the mop herself. Overnight success, right? Well, no. There’s a lot about patents and molds and contracts and getting ripped off and Joy battling everyone while still carrying everyone on her back.
It’s a pull one up from the bootstraps movie. Normally I like those. But – while I liked Joy the fighter, and Joy trying to be a business woman, I detested the peripheral characters and how they were presented. Admittedly, this was based on a true story and perhaps this poor woman really had to put up with all of these nut jobs, but I found myself very detached from the film. I kept thinking, “This is so annoying.” Thus, it gives me joy to save you, the film goer, from seeing Joy. Consider this my first good deed of the new year. You are welcome.
Ch Ch Ch Changes
The Thin White Duke - ever evolving rock, pop, catchy hooks and phrasing
David Bowie left this earth but shall remain an influence forever
Changes - the yearning in that song gets me every time
Art Stroll And Variety
If you need an art fix, the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth has a superb exhibition on Gustave Caillebotte The Painter’s Eye. Caillebotte (1848 – 1894) was a vital but low key member of the Impressionists. He had money and often bought his fellow artist’s works. He himself proved highly skilled in his perspectives – cropped figures, unusual vantage points, and views of daily life. The Floor Scrapers depicted shirtless working class men planing wood floors – shocking at that time. Caillebotte used a subdued palette and a structured style. His On the Pont de l’Europe and Paris Street, Rainy Day show geometric precision, and captured a scene like a photograph. The collection on view is impressive and worth a stroll.
Also on view right now through February 14th, Castiglione – Lost Genius. Masterworks on Paper from the Royal Collection. Giovanni Bendetto Castiglione was a creative man conquered by demons. He painted, was a brilliant printmaker, and a draftsmen with unbounded technique. He was also violent, erratic, and overly ambitious. Consequently, he moved from Genoa to Rome, and ended in Mantua, Italy. Now ninety fine drawings, etchings, and monotypes are on display. He worked during the 1640 and 50s – addressing biblical themes of death, decay, and earthly trials. Lighting and drama created stunning images. His own self portrait shows a dashing figure, determined and obsessed.
And finally, step from the past into the future with Kehinde Wiley A New Republic at the Modern Museum of Fort Worth. This prolific artist has paintings of street life in Harlem. He explores African American men using European traditional portraiture. Contemporary likeness on ornate backgrounds offers a unique perspective. His World Stage project contains bronze busts, and a chapel-like structure with stained-glass pictures. The work is stunning, vivid, and exemplary.
A Sunday afternoon alternative to football - exercise your feet, eyes, and brain
Movie Review - The Hateful Eight
There’s good Tarantino – Pulp Fiction, and there’s bad – Django Unchained comes to mind. Let’s add his latest, The Hateful Eight, to the bad list but it could have been so good. Someone needs to give director Quentin Tarantino a machete to cut this film from three hours to less than two. Someone needs to not be so indulgent with Quentin being so full of himself, and just say, “Get on with the story.”
The opening scenes are gorgeous as we watch a stagecoach in the snow. He also shows what looks like a gnarled tree is actually a stone crucifix – ah, symbolism. In the first hour, we pile a mix of outlaws and lawmen into the coach, only to arrive at Minnie’s Haberdashery in a blizzard, and find another group of suspicious characters. The clock is ticking for a bloodbath. Samuel L. Jackson is a principled bounty hunter given to well proclaimed pronouncements. Kurt Russell is holding onto Jennifer Jason Leigh, an urchin outlaw. There’s a sheriff, a hangman, cowboy, and a general. There is leftover feelings from the Civil War and banter on racism and bigotry. Too much meandering, too much rambling talk, too many cold characters we don’t care about.
In the akibat thirty minutes, we find out why everyone is at Minnie’s except Minnie and her husband. Tarantino flashes back to show us the behind the scenes gathering of these vultures. It’s almost like an Agatha Christie game of Clue, only with extreme violence. It’s a shame. The acting is fine. There’s some interesting dialogue. It’s filmed richly and the musical score is grand. But, The Hateful Eight is cold and ugly, devoid of a reason to unspool.
Motown The Musical - A Toe Tapping Sunday
Hitsville USA - the roots of Motown and Berry Gordy. Quite the story and the epitome of the American Dream
Motown the Musical tells the story of Berry Gordy's dream and the soul/pop/R&B glory of so many artists - - Diana Ross and The Supremes, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Jackson 5, Martha & the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Commodores...... The list is endless and the songs are etched in the songbook of my life.
I wanted to be Diana Ross when I saw her on Ed Sullivan. She was exotic and talented and sexy and beautiful.
And Michael Jackson..........oh my goodness - he was an old soul in a young body - so talented with that sweet voice and those dance moves.
I treated myself on Sunday to a ticket in the mezzanine at Bass Hall. The lights went down, the show went on, and I was tapping my toe. Bliss, absolute bliss - the voices were extraordinary and the dancing was like air.
I highly recommend Motown The Musical if the show rolls through your town.
Already Gone - Glen Frey
Helen and I weren't old enough to drive so I'm guessing we were ingusan high age. My Dad was way cool and loved the Eagles from Day One. I chatted with him tonight (he's 84) over the death of Glen Frey and we mourned together.
Take It Easy............and so many hits. The Eagles were the soundtrack of my life.
He passed at age 67 - not that old in this day and age. I've seen the footage "the History of The Eagles" and they were so damn good. Great songwriting, good singing, and a lot of charisma.
David Bowie this past week..........now Glen Frey.............the soundtrack of my youth...........is passing away......
big sigh
But the music lives on............RIP Glen Frey