Blogging from A to Z

It Happened One Night, 1934

Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert were flawless in this slapstick romantic comedy.  She, a spoiled heiress, and he, a reporter on the story, match wits and sparks fly.  It won 5 Oscars (Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Writing) and is well worth checking out.  One of my all time faves.

Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati

This is a must read for fans of Diana Gabaldon, or for those who love epic tales of adventure and romance. Elizabeth Cameron sails to New York in the late 1700’s to join her father; judge of a small mountain village called Paradise. It chronicles her journey from genteel England, to the rough laws and harsh prejudice of the New World.  Paradise is full of unique characters,  rife with hostility toward the Mohawk living on Lake in the Clouds. Elizabeth comes to be a teacher, but her father has other plans for her. To secure his own wealth, Elizabeth’s father intends for her to marry Richard Todd, the wealthiest man in Paradise. Instead, Elizabeth falls in love with Nathaniel from Lake in the Clouds.

Ian McKellen

His recurring roles of Magneto in the X-Men films and Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings  and Hobbit trilogies have cemented him as the go-to guy for complex characters.  He is fun to watch, even if he’s being bad.  Do you have a favorite of his outside of these roles?  I admit I’m not as familiar with his other movies as I should be.

Isabel Allende

I read her first book, The House of Spirits,  and loved it.  This 1982 novel, with strong women and magical realism, put this Chilean on the map.  I’ve only read one of her other novels, Daughter of Fortune, and loved it too.  I want to read more.  Do you have a favorite Allende book?

Blogging from A to Z

The Tuesday quiz will be the next post!

Cary Grant

A few fun facts about the suave Archibald Leach…He was born in England in 1904.  When we was 12 his mother suffered a severe nervous breakdown so he ran away at 13 and joined Bob Pender’s Troupe, but his father found him and brought him home.  A year and half later he rejoined the troupe (with his father’s blessing) and travelled around England before the troupe headed to New York City in 1920. He worked as a stilt walker at Coney Island and as an audience plant with a mind-reading act before working on Broadway. He became a US citizen in 1942.  Married five times, divorced four and the father of one child.  He died in 1986 at the age of 82 of a stroke.

My favorite Cary movie if The Philadelphia Story.  Do you have a favorite?

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

Jeannette writes about her childhood traveling from state to state with her parents and three siblings.  She starts by telling her first memory, when she was boiling hotdogs and caught herself on fire – at the age of three.  She spends six weeks in the hospital before her father breaks her out.  So begins the adventure that is her life.  The children grow up in extreme poverty.

It is the even-handed way that Walls tells her story that makes this book so wonderful.  She is not bitter or pointing fingers.  During her childhood years she and her siblings accepted their life and their parents and it was only later after  a move to West Virginia when things became unbearable that she became frustrated.  I am in such awe of her ability to come out of her situation intact and successful.  I don’t really want to spoil too many details because I think once you start reading it you won’t be able to put it down and at 288 pages it won’t take you long to finish.  Cannot recommend it highly enough.

Diana Gabaldon

I read the first four books in her Outlander series back to back and this was no small feet since they were all 600+ pages.  I also read them at a time when I was still working for Barnes & Noble and hand sold these to many customers, even quite a few men!  It has romance and adventure, history, war and time travel.  I met her at a book signing and she was smart and beautiful, add that to talented and she’s an easy pick!

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, 1993

Usually I fall in love with the performances or the story, but in this case I can’t choose one because I loved them both.  Obviously, Johnny Depp is going to give you a good performance and this is one of his most normal roles.  He plays a long-suffering man of the house struggling to keep it all together with little thought to his needs.  But DiCaprio’s Arnie equally shines and he was more than deserving of the Academy Award nomination.  This was Leonardo before Titanic and showing his acting chops.  I was amazed at what he pulled off.  Those two performances alone make this movie a must see.

Blogging from A to Z

Daily bookish and filmish picks.

The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer

This  book about convicts and the death penalty is one that challenged the way I thought about both.  It’s based on a true story in 1976 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1980.  I read this 15 or so years ago and I still remember the way it made me feel.  If you can commit to over 1,000 pages, it’s worth it!  I’d say 3 might be a little young to appreciate it but Gage wanted to take a look over breakfast anyway.

Ever After, 1998

I’ve seen this movie more times than I’m willing to admit.  This is a  romantic retelling of the fairytale Cinderella as the great great great-granddaughter of the real Cinderella wants to set the record straight.   Drew was luminous as Danielle/Cinderella.  And Angelica Huston as the stepmother?  Perfection.  This is a Cinderella story that I think has a great message for girls.  Hint-Cinderella doesn’t wait to be rescued, she takes care of  that herself.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

In college, I took a class on transcendental authors during a particularly difficult time, it was the quarter that my grandfather was sick and passed away. I was forced to read and keep a journal and these writers (Emerson, Thoreau) really comforted me somehow.  I’m sure some of my world view comes directly from reading them.  I haven’t taken the time to read them in awhile and I need to remedy that.  Here’s a quote that I need to keep handy as I reach my limit of the new 3-year-old tantrums I’ve been living with.

“Men are what their mothers made them.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you want to try Emerson or think that you should, read Self-Reliance, start here.

Ethan Hawke

He’s been in some very good movies – Dead Poets Society, Reality Bites, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.  I find him likeable and enjoy his performances.  I did think it was in poor form to knock up the nanny though.  Was he trying to become a cliché?

Blogging from A to Z

These are the same four categories every day and the best match I could come up with for the letter.  It was a good mental exercise!   Some people have been commenting that they are all time favorites, but unless I say so that’s not the case.  But they are the best person, book or movie for each letter 🙂

Jeffery Deaver

I really love Deaver’s series about a former NYPD criminologist who became a quadriplegic in the line of duty, Lincoln Rhyme. Great mysteries with lots of red herrings and flawed characters.  I’ve read and loved the first 9 of the series and #10 came out last year so I need to find time for it.  The first book, The Bone Collector, was turned into a movie starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie that was pretty good.  I’ve read some of his standalones and prefer to revisit Lincoln instead.  He was a lawyer before turning to writing full-time.  Good choice!

Robert Downey Jr.

I first remember seeing Downey in Weird Science back in 1985 (watch this 30 second clip, he’s totally 80’s)

But it wasn’t until the sugary sweet romance, Only You, in 1994 with Marissa Tomei that I recognized his good looks and charm.  He had well-known addiction issues that kept him off the screen for awhile but he managed to keep acting and rebounded with amazing commercial success as Sherlock Holmes and Tony Stark (Iron Man and Avengers movies).  He is so quick and witty that he brings a spark to all of his roles.  I loved him in Tropic Thunder and The Soloist along with many others.  He’s so fun to watch and brings energy to every movie he’s in.

Dirty Dancing, 1987

This movie takes me back to my teens every time I see it.  There are so many cultural references that make it a must see for teen girls, I think.  I loved the story of an awkward girl falling for an older, much more experienced man and I adore the soundtrack. She’s Like the Wind makes me melancholy when I hear it, maybe, due to the lost innocence of youth.

The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown

I loved this book. Once I started reading it was impossible for me to put down.  Honestly, we were going to a party  (and I love parties) the day I started reading and I took the book with me in the car so that I could read for the 15 minutes it took us to get there, never mind that I get sick if I read in the car.  Luckily no headache but I was grumpy that I had to put it down.

I love puzzles, I love fast-paced thrillers, and I thought the story of a possible descendent of Jesus was captivating.  Some people won’t read it because of the sacrilege of Jesus having a child.  Okay.  But it is fiction so I don’t think your religious views are really going to be challenged here.  I’ve gone on to read all of Dan Brown’s books but this is still my favorite one.  Although I liked Digital Fortress too and that starts with a D 🙂