Tag: movies

Cookies, Creatures and a Chill… or two.

     Made these cookies the other day… absolutely delicious.  We’re -trying- to go gluten free around here, although we haven’t actually succeeded 100 percent yet, but I have yet to make a baked item with GF flour that tastes edible.  These are NOT GF, but damn, they sure are good.  The fresh strawberries, white chocolate and cream cheese come together beautifully in this soft cake-like cookie.  My first batch was gone in 5 hours.

http://omgchocolatedesserts.com/strawberry-cookies/

   
     TRUMP.  Holy cow, how did we get here?   Not ever would I have believed….  and so totally embarrassing, the way these “men” behave on that stage.   Not a sound choice in the lot…  And yet the government definitely needs a huge shaking down… and you know what?  I’m starting to think TRUMP  is not the worst thing that could happen. Maybe it’s the shake down the “establishment needs”.  For sure, they’ve brought it on themselves. They asked for it.  Just so hard to accept that this is the level we have all sunk to, and I think we all bear responsibility, I do.

  For a while I said.. I’m not voting!! These choices aren’t acceptable!!… but not voting isn’t the answer either.  I’m weighing out the lesser of two evils, myself.  I hope you do the same, whatever you believe that to be. Apathy is a bigger sin.

  Spring is starting to announce that she indeed intends to show up.  I am thrilled!  Barn chores are so much more enjoyable when your hands don’t sting from the cold despite double glove wearing and you don’t include ice chipping of water buckets/ bowls and snow shoveling in the daily lineup of duties.  We’re going to Agway today to pick up some seed planting “stuff”.  I’ve ordered my seeds already from Baker Heirloom seed company… purple dragon carrots and an oriental variety of purple sweet potato are in the plans.

 The girls enjoying some oatmeal with raspberries a few mornings ago.  They’ve made it clear they prefer blueberries though.  Truly, I wonder what the difference is between the two… they leave the raspberries till there’s nothing else to pick on.  Blueberries disappear in seconds.

   Out on our morning walk.. the crew discusses the results of Super Tuesday. I couldn’t help but notice their conversations were more coherent than the candidates and there was no mention of the size of their… digits.

  Have you seen -Black Mass –  the movie about  the real life story of Whitey Bulger,  portrayed by Johnny Depp?  Great movie, probably one of Johnny Depps best performances. He’s an incredible actor anyway, one of my favorites… but in this?   Well.. first let me tell you my husband put the movie on and I hadn’t known who was in it, hadn’t paid any attention to the ads for it before hand.  I had NO IDEA while watching the ENTIRE MOVIE that I was looking at Johnny.  The eyes were haunting to me, but I could not place it, did not see -him-.   Amazing performance.   I highly recommend the movie-  a real,  chilling,  gritty piece of our american story.

 Best “chiller” you’ll see all year, I promise. 

Randomocity

… that is SO a word.

 We’ve had beautiful weather lately except for one thing.  No rain.  None. Nuthin.  Nada.  And that means we are living in a pollen and dust bowl.  Hello Allegra/Zyrtec/Claritin/Flonase.    I haven’t used any of that stuff yet, but I probably should.  Itchy, sneezy, general feeling of yuck – *sigh

 Anyway.. on to the other random –

   We had a glorious Memorial Day Weekend – time spent with family enjoying good food, good weather, a frisbee and good horses, it’s all good.

  Timely, we watched American Sniper… wow, what a story.  And if you need a dose of reality, this movie is it.  The horrors our soldiers endure is hideous.  The mentality over there is … I don’t have an appropriate word for it.  What an incredible man, what a tragic end.

 On to better things –  K & Opie – I’ve been lax in the riding department and Kris has been giving him some much needed exercise.

I just found this funny – 

 A Mother’s Day gift from my son – I love it. At night it casts a lovely
glow over the kitchen sink.  

Speaking of my son – he traded in his car for a really rad
Jeep.  You know we love our Jeeps around here… 
He’s the Black Jeep Of The Family. 
The fellow next to him is my cousin Kev. 
A finer man you might never know – 
He taught my son all about the joys of
GOING TOPLESS the other day…
because sometimes that’s how we roll. 

Unbroken

 Have you seen the movie yet?  

     Amazing.. amazing true story.   – 2014 , produced and directed by Angelina Jolie,  based on the 2010 non-fiction book by Laura Hillenbrand.   The film revolves around the life of  USA Olympian   Louis “Louie” Zamperini,  portrayed by Jack O’Connell.  Zamperini survived in a raft for 47 days after his bomber was downed in World War II, then was sent to a series of Japanese prison camps where he sustained unfathomable torture but showed a resilience I can’t even describe.. except to say I was in awe and in  tears often throughout the movie.  The icing on the cake is knowing Zamperini went on to marry his sweetheart, raise two children,  and even ran with the Olympic torch IN JAPAN at the age of 81.  He recently passed in July of 2014 at the age of 97.   

Amazing. 

Back in the day, I used to think of Angelina as not much more than  a gorgeous but whacked young actress who was going to tip over the edge for certain one of these days.  Of course she has always been my husbands ultimate fantasy figure. 

In recent years, however,  I have a whole new respect for her. She has talent behind the cameras, as evidenced in producing and directing this movie.  She came to know this incredible man personally, and wanted to portray his  journey as authentically as possible.  I believe she did just that.   Angie also shows a generosity and soul so many other celebrities  do not possess.   And right here I admit.. way back when it was the -thing- I was Team Aniston all the way.    

 Only thing?..Sometimes I just want to throw her a cheeseburger, ya know? 



Shown below….. with the authentic Louie. 


 Bravo, Angelina Jolie, and Louie – I sure hope there is a reward at the end of this life.. if anyone deserves it, you most definitely deserve it. 


True Grit

  What a fantastic movie!  Best I’ve seen in a long while…  You don’t even have to like westerns to enjoy the incredible acting, scenery, storyline and yes absolutely… TRUE GRIT in this movie.  Loved every single bit of it.  Except where the horse dies.  Dammit.

 I want to be her when I grow up….

Water For Elephants

 I love a good book. One of my favorites this year has been Water For Elephants, and I’m looking forward to the movie, due out April 22nd.  The cast, in my readers opinion, is perfect to portray the main characters.  To read a New York Times Review of the book, click here….

 I’ve admitted before that this 45 year old woman is a Twilight fan. Robert Pattinson (Edward for Twi-hards) will play the lead roll  in the movie adaption and from what I can see in the trailer and photos – he’s perfect for the part.  He may be a nimwit in interviews  (dude, get your hands out of your hair)  but he’s actually quite good when the director shouts ACTION.  Talk about eye candy… in that british sort of way. 

Twilight

   Do I admit that I am a fan of Stephenie Meyers Twilight Series?  And do I throw my sister and my good friend Joey under the bus and tell you they’re just as bad as I am?  Heck yeah, I’m not going it alone 🙂 

  I have ALWAYS been a Vampire fan, and I find True Blood to be a bit campy and cheap and I just don’t watch it.  I’m in it for the gorgeous scenery and the romance, and maybe even the anquish, because there is plenty of that to go around.

  I read all four Twilight novels in nine days… couldn’t put them down.  Joey and I along with a few other mid-lifers went to see each of the movies as they came out with the exception of the most recent one, “Eclipse”. Matinee hours,  to be less conspicuous.  We were not alone. There were plenty of mid-life-wifes there and each of us gasped in unison at the appropriate moments.  

 The DVD  for Eclipse has just come out and I grabbed a copy today. I need the Closed Caption now a days to really enjoy a movie, even though the scenery in it is worthy without sound.  There will be a private showing tonight in my home and there might  just be chocolate wine, guacamole and chips involved.

  Go ahead and laugh if you will, but don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.

Life As A House

 
I saw this movie for the first time last night on PayPerView, although it was originally released in 2001. What a wonderful film… full of real and imperfect characters, the gutwrenching twists and turns of true life, humor, humanity… something for everyone, and several clear messages we can all come away with.  I absolutely loved it…

Storyline

George Monroe is a lonely and sad man. Divorced for ten years, he lives alone on the Southern California coast with his pet dog in the same run down shack he has lived in for twenty-five years, the shack which his father passed down to him. In the intervening years, ostentatious houses have sprung up around him. He’s been at the same architectural firm for twenty years in a job he hates, which primarily consists of building scale models. On the day that he is fired from his job, he is diagnosed with an advanced case of terminal cancer, which he chooses not to disclose to his family. In many ways, this day is the happiest of his recent life in that he decides to spend what little time he has left doing what he really wants to do, namely build a house he can call his own to replace the shack. He also wants his rebellious sixteen year old son, Sam Monroe, to live with him for the summer, hopefully not only to help in the house construction… Written by Huggo

This description is only the beginning… 

CAST:  Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas, Hayden Christensen,  Jena Malone,  Mary Steenburgen

FUN FACTS: The featured house had to be removed after filming, but costume designer Molly Maginnis led a group of parents that had it dismantled, reconstructed, and enlarged to become a library for the Kenter Canyon school in Brentwood, California. The new library opened in April 2004.
The video of George and young Sam playing in the surf was shot by Kevin Kline’s wife, Phoebe Cates. She videotaped Kevin and their son Owen on the beach in Bermuda.
Lindsay Lohan, who was 14 years old at the time of production/casting, was strongly considered for the role of Alyssa and even screen tested for it. While the filmmakers were impressed with Lohan, they ultimately gave Jena Malone the part, deciding they wanted someone a little bit older.

Shutter Island

   I haven’t seen the movie yet, but the book is mind-bendin. If you’re looking for a page turner that keeps you on the edge of your seat, this is it.  I also read Mystic River by the same author, Dennis Lehane.   A good read, but not quite like this.   What surprises me is that the movie has already come and gone in  theatres without a huge amount of fanfare.  The book is often better than the movie and this might be the case with Shutter Island.. however I’m finding that hard to believe. The cast seems a perfect fit  and the mood created by Martin Scorsese is legendary.

It’s Complicated

   I loved this movie from start to finish… what an excellent vehicle for Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.  John Krasinski was adorable in the role of soon-to-be son-in-law too…. Hillarious, honest, just the best movie I’ve seen in years.  And oooh, to live in that house…

If you haven’t seen it already, worth every penny of the DVD rental.