G – is for Giving

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Blogging From a-Z

I love the book blogging community.  I love the memes, the comments, the events, and most importantly, the friendships.  Six years ago I started a monthly post of the movies I’d seen that month with a quick 5 word review.  I asked all of you to add your 5 words to mine so that they would be more complete.  This also happened around the time that Jason and I got serious about giving to charities, so I decided to combine the two.

When I reach 100 commenter reviews, the person who has contributed the most will choose a charity.  I’ll then send that charity $100 in that person’s name.  I exclude religious or political charities.  And after that is done we start all over again at 0 and work out way to the next 100.  If you are interested in seeing the past winners and charities click here.

So, we have a winner and, coincidentally, he is someone who first came by the blog during my first Blogging From A-Z Challenge years ago.  Tony Laplume is an author, check out his Amazon page and a blogger.   This morning when I checked, I saw that Tony had left 90 reviews overnight!!!  Wow!

Tony Laplume chose the Red Cross as his charity and after I post this I’ll be making a $100 donation in his name.

That means that 43 of his reviews will count toward the next 100 threshold so unless someone gets busy Tony will get to choose another charity soon!

To browse through the monthly posts (you can everyone’s reviews) click here.  To go from the master list go here.  At this point the master list is incomplete and I’ll be working on it over the weekend.

Thanks for participating everyone!  I hope I wake up tomorrow with another $100 to donate!

F – Far From the Madding Crowd

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Blogging From A-Z

I joined the Classics Club a few years ago and the goal is to read 50 classics in 5 years.  Well, I have less than 3 years to read 39 classics!  Yikes.  When the letter F came up I was going to watch Father of the Bride, one of my top 100 movies, but then I saw this on the shelves at the library and decided to give it a try.  I’ve never read Thomas Hardy and if I liked the movie then I could add the book to my classics challenge.

Far from the Madding Crowd (2015 film).jpgFar From the Madding Crowd is a 2015 film featuring  Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Michael Sheen.  Bathsheba Everdene is on her aunt’s farm in 1870 England when she meets Mr. Oak.  He proposes.  She says no husband, no way.  She inherits her uncle’s large, very successful farm.  The neighbor, Mr. Boldwood, asks her to marry him.  No husband, no way.  A soldier shows up one day and kisses her, boom, they’re married.

I liked the movie quite a bit and think I will add this to my classics challenge.  Sure, I’m a sucker for a good romance, but more than that I really want to get to know Bathsheba a bit better.  She is a fascinating woman.

Has anyone read it? What did you think?

E- Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

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Blogging From A-Z

This month I’m focusing on movies, but I plan to compare the book to the movie in another post so I’ll tell you about the book since I just finished it.

Extremely loud and incredibly close large.JPEGFinished 4-6-17, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2005

Unabridged audio read by multiple authors. 11 hours.

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is a precocious Francophile who idolizes Stephen Hawking and plays the tambourine extremely well. He’s also a boy struggling to come to terms with his father’s death in the World Trade Center attacks. As he searches New York City for the lock that fits a mysterious key he left behind, Oskar discovers much more than he could have imagined.             from Goodreads

This description is accurate but not complete.  There are really three storylines, with Oskar’s voice carrying most of the story.  His grandmother and grandfather are the other two narratives and to say that this family is a little different is an understatement.

Oskar is an old nine and very likely on the autism spectrum even though it’s never stated specifically.  After his father dies on 9/11 his emotions spiral, so some of the autistic like traits could stem from that, but I personally thinks he’s an asperger’s boy with many of the strengths.  I love that his dad really played up those strengths so when we saw Oskar hoofing it around New York on his own it didn’t seem completely out of the question.  I love Oskar.  I recognized my son in him and fell in love. He also made me laugh and broke my heart.  By being true to himself he brought happiness to people’s lives.

The dueling grandparent narratives were okay.  They were both broken people so their stories sometimes contradicted each other and always left me feeling sad.  For much of the book I had some sympathy for the mute grandfather and little to spare for the grandmother.  I guess that held true but I did at least understand the grandmother better by the end.

I think I would have really loved this one if I had read the actual book.  I understand that there were drawings and illustrations that really helped make this something special, but the library didn’t get the book to me in time 😦  When it comes in I will flip through a take a look.  For that reason I don’t recommend the audio.

Take a chance and fall in love with Oskar.

D- Desk Set, fave movie #90

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Blogging from A-Z

I’m more likely to watch a favorite movie again and again before I’d re-read a favorite book.  Maybe it’s because a favorite movie takes less time or I can share that time with a friend.

Desk Set cinema poster.jpgDesk Set, 1957

Cast-Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Joan Blondell, Gig Young

This was the 8th pairing of Tracy and Hepburn and their first color film.

Bunny (Hepburn) is the head reference librarian in the research department at the fictitious Federal Broadcasting Company.  She has a beau in the company and after seven years she still holds out hope for more.  Sumner is an efficiency expert and a man with a machine, EMERAC.  As he spends more time in the research department the women there start to fear for their jobs.

Why I love it – I’m a Hepburn fan (Katherine and Audrey). I love the strength, smarts and independence that Katherine pulls off in every film.  She was able to shine as the woman who knows everything (or at least how to find it). I like Tracy well enough, the easy chemistry between them seems so comfortable after all of their years and roles together.

Like the recent Hidden Figures, it is about an office of women depended on for their intelligence who were slowly being replaced by computers.  Remember when we had to use the card catalog to find references and information?  Well, these women were Google before Google.  Librarians don’t get enough big screen attention.

It’s light and fun and the dialogue is sharp. A smart romp that will leave you smiling.

I realized this last time I watched it that the screenplay was written by Henry and Phoebe Ephron, parents to Nora who would go on to write so many iconic romantic comedies.

Here’s a clip…

 

C – Catch & Release, Fave Movie #89

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Blogging From A-Z

I decided to give this month’s challenge a movie theme so today I’m writing about one of my top 100.

Catch and releaseposter.jpgCatch and Release, 2006

Cast-Jennifer Garner, Timothy Olyphant, Kevin Smith, Juliette Lewis, Sam Jaeger

The movie opens at the funeral of Gray’s (Garner) fiancé, the wedding cake in the refrigerator ready for the big day that would never happen.  As Gray tries to find her bearings after six years with Grady, she leans on his friends who are just  as in the dark about the real Grady.  When Maureen shows up, kid in tow, everyone has to reassess who Grady was and what that means for the future.

Why I love it– Okay, to be completely honest, I didn’t like this the first time I saw it.  I thought the story was convoluted and felt like it was missing something.  This may be still be true, but since then I’ve seen it several more times over the years.  It’s a comfort movie and it’s got some great kissing scenes 🙂

I love the actors.  Kevin Smith carried the movie with his humor and heart, while Olyphant and Garner turned up the heat.  The Boulder setting was beautiful and makes me want to visit!

What would you do if you found out devastating news about the man you were supposed to spend the rest of your life with after he died?  Maybe you wouldn’t do what Gray did, but I think some of us would wish we had the grace and courage.

I love this soundtrack. All of it.  It may be what keeps me coming back (well, that and the kissing). What If You is one of my favorites and I discovered while writing this that musician Joshua Radin is from Cleveland.  All the cool kids come through Cleveland 🙂

 

 

 

B – Beauty and the Beast, a tale as old as time

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Blogging From A-Z

When I went to hear author Eloisa James speak last month she mentioned the original story of Beauty and the Beast and I realized that it had never occurred to me to wonder if Disney had taken liberties with the source material.  So, I did a little looking around and found that the tale originated with Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve in 1740 and, yes, Disney and others since then have molded and shaped the stories into something different.

Beauty and the Beast 2017 poster.jpg

 

Instead of Gaston there were brave brothers.  Instead of jealous village beauties there were jealous sisters.  Instead of enchanted servants there were fairies that seduced and helped.  But, in the end, a rose is still a rose and the tears of a beauty still transformed a beast.

Some researchers think that the Beast could have inspired by this real man, Petrus Gonsalvus, who had hypertrichosis.

I admit that I prefer Dan Stevens, interesting likeness just the same.  I like the Disney version, although having read more about the original I’d like to see that onscreen too!

I did like the new version with Emma Watson and nothing can beat the songs.  Have you seen it? What did you think?

 

A – Book vs. Movie – Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None

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Blogging From A-Z.  It’s been a few years since I gave this challenge a try and I’m excited to give it a go with a movie twist.

This is a semi-regular feature where I talk about which was better, the book or the movie.  Most of the time I don’t know which will come out on top until I’ve worked my way through some of the criteria, and this is one of those times.  Let’s see how it all pans out.

I listened to the 1939 novel a few years ago (interestingly narrated by Dan Stevens who I just saw today onscreen as a Beast in some fairy tale movie I may write about on Monday) and spent the last several evenings watching the most recent adaptation, the 2015 BBC mini-series.

The Story/Plot  It’s the late 1930’s and eight people are invited to a secluded island off the English coast.  Upon arrival they are greeted by two servants and the group quickly realizes that no one has actually met the hosts and the servants don’t know when to expect them.  After dinner a record is played accusing each of them of horrendous crimes and the tension mounts as the murdering begins.

While being faithful to the spirit of the novel, the mini-series took great liberties in modernizing it for today’s audience.  They added drugs, sex and swearing just to liven up the screen.  I don’t think it really changed a whole lot, just added some nuance that wasn’t there, so no harm, no foul.   Thumbs up…tie

The Visual Most movies have an advantage in this category and this definitely true here.  The island, the house, the weather of storms and fog all gave this a melodramatic, spooky feel.  Christie also accomplished this with her writing, but I do think the screen lit up the story.   Thumbs up…the mini-series.

Characters vs. Actors

And Then There Were None

The cast was excellent and there is no fault to be found there, BUT in telling each of their back stories as the story progressed took some of the intrigue away.  And that’s before you realize that the characters in the mini-series committed more horrifying crimes than those in the book.

I liked seeing Sam Neill and Toby Stephens as well as Kili from the Hobbit movies, and it was nice to see more evolved characters, but sympathy was lost along the way.   Thumbs up…the book.

The Ending The end result was the same but near the end there were a few changes made that were understandable but not preferable.    Thumbs up…the book.

And the winner is… the book.  This is the world’s bestselling mystery novel and #7 of all novels, so it begs to be read.

Now it’s your turn to vote

Other book vs. movie polls you can still vote on: (It Ends With Us) (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) (The Sun is Also a Star) (We Have Always Lived in the Castle) (Good Morning, Midnight/The Midnight Sky) (Before I Go To Sleep) (The Little Prince) (Charlie St. Cloud) (Far From the Madding Crowd) (The Girl on the Train) (Tuck Everlasting)  (Northanger Abbey) (Me Before You) (And Then There Were None) (Still Alice) (The Blind Side) (The Fault in Our Stars) (The Hound of the Baskervilles) (Gone Girl) (Jack Reacher) (Ender’s Game) (Carrie, the original) (Under the Tuscan Sun) (The Secret Life of Bees) (The Shining, the original)

March’s Movies

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Gage had a week where he only had half days of school and I was so excited to take him to the movies twice.  We were the only ones in Lego Batman and we had a blast trying all the rows 🙂

Add your 5 words (or less!) to mine in a comment and earn $1 for charity.  Once we get to $100 the person with the most reviews will choose the charity.  Click here to see the past winners, the charities they chose and the other reviews you can add to.  Anyone is welcome to join in at any time.

We’re at $43.

I hope that you will take a few minutes to participate when you can each month.  It’s fun for me and for everyone else who reads it.  I’m not looking for a critical review, just a few words about how you felt about the movie.  This is ongoing so you can leave your 5 words anytime.

Teaser poster for 2017 film Get Out.pngGet Out, 2017 (Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Stephen Root, Catherine Keener)        Grade B

Creepy, smart, racially charged horror.

Steeped in reality, metaphorically.   (Michelle)

The Lego Batman Movie PromotionalPoster.jpgLego Batman, 2017 (Voices-Will Arnett, Zach Galifanakis, Michael Cera, Roasario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes)             Grade B

Talking Legos aren’t my thing.

Darkness was never so Awesome.  (Jen)

Odd Thomas poster film.jpgOdd Thomas, 2013 (Anton Yelchin, Willem Dafoe, Addison Timlin, Nico Tortorella)                                           Grade B-

Dude can see dead people.

Saw it. Barely remember it.   (Michelle)

Rock Dog 2016 Teaser Poster.jpgRock Dog, 2017 (Voices-Luke Wilson, Eddie Izzard, JK Simmons, Lewis Black, Keeanan Thompson, Mae Whitman, Jorge Garcia, Matt Dillon, Sam Elliott)      Grade B-

Mastiff purses rock ‘n roll.

When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James

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When Beauty Tamed the BeastWhen Beauty Tamed the Beast. Finished 3-20-17, rating 4.5/5, historical romance, 372 pages, pub. 2011

Miss Linnet Berry Thrynne is a Beauty . . . Naturally, she’s betrothed to a Beast.

Piers Yelverton, Earl of Marchant, lives in a castle in Wales where, it is rumored, his bad temper flays everyone he crosses. And rumor also has it that a wound has left the earl immune to the charms of any woman.

Linnet is not just any woman.

She is more than merely lovely: her wit and charm brought a prince to his knees. She estimates the earl will fall madly in love—in just two weeks.

Yet Linnet has no idea of the danger posed to her own heart by a man who may never love her in return.

If she decides to be very wicked indeed . . . what price will she pay for taming his wild heart?      from Goodreads

When I heard Eloisa James say that she had read 7 years worth of House MD scripts to get the character of House just right, I knew I would love this one.  The classic tale of Beauty and the Beast is a timely one one right now and even though I haven’t seen the movie yet, I can recommend the book.  Like yesterday’s novel this takes me to Wales, only it’s the a few hundred years ago.  House, I mean Piers, was a solid curmudgeon of brilliance, complete with bum leg.  Linnet was beautiful enough to interest a prince, but not to seal the deal so the two are thrown together as a last resort for one and an olive branch, of sorts, for the other.

It’s witty, sexy and smart.  I love that Piers had his own hospital inside his castle with a loyal and loving family, even if dysfunctional.  Linnet, for all her beauty, had no one even though every man in the same room fell at her feet.   The two recognized something in each other and it was only a matter of time until they had their happily ever after.

 

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

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Title: I Let You Go, Author: Clare MackintoshI Let You Go. Finished 3-25-17, rating 4.25/5, suspense, pub. 2016

Unabridged audio read by Nicola Barber and Steven Crossley. 12 hours.

On a rainy afternoon, a mother’s life is shattered as her son slips from her grip and runs into the street . . .

I Let You Go follows Jenna Gray as she moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, trying to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind and desperate to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past.

At the same time, the novel tracks the pair of Bristol police investigators trying to get to the bottom of this hit-and-run. As they chase down one hopeless lead after another, they find themselves as drawn to each other as they are to the frustrating, twist-filled case before them.    from Goodreads

I remember all the hype for this book when it came out and when it showed up on a recent unputdownable list, I checked the audio out of the library.  For the first few cds I really couldn’t figure out why there were so many raves about it.  I actually stopped listening for a week and was questioning to bother with the rest since I definitely didn’t get the unputdownable label at all.  But, I decided to give it a bit longer when I was cleaning one day and it started to build some steam.

This was a good book that starts with the horrific death of a child.  There was more than one big twist and the less you know the better. I loved  the Wales seaside Jenna found comfort in.  I would love to visit someday, under happier circumstances.

So, I think the slow beginning could deter some people, but if you can make it past that it turns into something unexpected and I liked it.