Perfect moody listening

She doesn't start playing until a minute and a half in though.

Big names

I watched Evening while on my girly-film-watching spree while husband was off visiting family. I quite adored the book this movie was based on. Apparently the filmmakers didn't adore it so much cause they changed loads.


First of all - the cast is amazing. Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Vanessa Redgrave, Claire Danes, and Toni Collette - all are actresses that can be amazing. But why mess up such a lovely story?


Part of what I loved from the book was the dreamy hallucination like meanderings of the main figure. They were beautiful at times. That I figured would be hard to capture and it was.


Still though, they changed so much for no reason. They made one character gay inexplicably - something that changed the plotline and motives a great deal. They mis-cast the heartthrob character greatly. They completely left out the reason why two characters split at the end - a reason so extra heart-breaking and moving rather than the assumption they leave you with.


What I did love was the lighting. The lighting was lush and beautiful and gasp-worthy and dreamy and so much more. I also loved the clothes they put on Claire Danes. That bit was perfect.


I'm so ticked at the unnecessary ruining of this story. It only gets a 3.5.

Cute! - fixed

This is the video I meant to post. Sorry about that.

In my head

Attention

Just saying. Any of you who know my husband should email him ASAP and let him know that my next gift could easily be handled by picking me up these pretties by ovgilliesdesigns.

Green

This gree leather flower ring is just the perfect shade. Made by fleurfatale.

Hankie required

Found via the always amazing A Striped Armchair.

No one told me

But Dollhouse is addictive. Anyone else watching this?

Special

I stumbled onto this wonderful organic statement necklace by magdalinen. So different and lovely!

Mysterious

Oooh - I want this. So versatile and cool. Made by SkinnySwallow.

After that

The concept of After Life is good. When people die they spend a week in a kind of holding station where they have to choose their favorite memory. The team there films the memory and then the dead person moves on spending eternity with just this one memory.

I hate to say it - cause Western remakes of foreign films are generally insulting. but I kind of hope someone takes this idea and does more wit it. I don't know what exactly - just more. This felt lacking so I only give it a 2.

Laugh out loud?

The Pleasure of My Company sounded like a good read. I did adore Shopgirl. This short novel is about Daniel who has some serious mental challenges. He's obsessed with a realtor he never met, can't cross the street except at parallel driveways, and lies constantly to his therapist.

Sounds like a book I would like. Unfortunately, Daniel isn't so relatable to me. It was a quick read, but besides my not laughing out loud and not empathize with the main character, but the ending felt way too tidy and unbelievable.

I only give this a 3.

I'm a sucker for many movies starring "dames"

All Passion Spent is a three part series from the BBC about a politicians widow who decides to go live a secluded life in the country after her husband's death. Her children, for the most part, can't stand the idea - mostly because they think society will look ill on them.

Its a lovely slow story full of new and old friendships. It takes an excellent look at relationships between adult children and their elderly parents. It was a thoroughly sweet and unexpected pleasure to watch.

Bad idea

With a couple of dogs who look at pillows as chew toys, gorgeous pretties like these from chakrapennywhistle would be a sad sad waste in my house. But aren't they lovely?

Never coming

I picked this up because I lurve finding unknown gems to my Netflix queue (which admittedly has reached a ridiculous length). Never Coming to a Theater Near You segments its suggested films into four categories - English language, foreign language, documentaries, and classics. Each film gets a two page explanation of why you should watch it.


I have pulled many many films from here and plugged it into Netflix. Expects to see an even wider range of reviews from me. I give this book a 6.

Mobile

I love mobiles, and this one is darn cute. Made by SweetMoods.

Newest Babe

Meet our newest foster pup Meg! She's sister to our last foster and such a sweetie! She's got an odd look to her (I think that with a fedora and a coat she'd look just like the weasels on Who Framed Roger Rabbit? but in a cut way!)

Meg is all sunggles and sweetness and plays so hard with my dogs. She's a doll and available for adoption with Cause for Paws Animal Rescue.

Romance

I watched The English Patient as part of a desire to have seen way more Oscar-nominated and Oscar-winning films. I'd seen it before but remembered very very little of it.



Terribly romantic of course. Ralph Fiennes is a long-term crush of mine. However...

...in this movie, I found myself far more enamored of Kip, the bomb expert. The romance between him and Binoche's nurse was so sweet and wonderful to watch. I give this one an 8.

Sweetness

I am thoroughly convinced that were I ever to reproduce I would have to start sewing lessons immediately so I could make cuteness happen like above. The outfit is by littleredwren and if you have a lil' girl babe in your life, you should get her one.

Not as bad as I thought

Okay I did read the Twilight series a while back, and it left me angry. Bella was a wimpy little thing. Edward was all way too dominant and controlling. The whole thing just reeked of abstinence porn. The writing was all kinds of god-awful. But the story enthralled me.

So after some hesitation, I checked out the movie version and was pleasantly surprised. For one, on screen Edward came across as less stalker creepy (just a little less) and more insecure. The two characters seemed a bit more on equal footing somehow.

However, the special effects were laughable. The speeding through the forest and sparkling was just pitifully done. Also Edward's whole family (with the exception of the oldest girl - Rosalie?) seemed terribly miscast.

I did enjoy the smoldering teenage vampire romance though so I'll give this one a 6.

In case you're wondering

The Pittsburgh Penguins making the play-offs has allowed a great deal of movie watching time for me. I like watching a game now and then, but the boy screams so loud when they score that I either drop to the floor or turn around swinging. I cannot get used to it! So I disappear and watch films and hope the Pens win even if it results in those loud shouts.

The other night I watched A Streetcar Named Desire. Marlon Brando is something to see in this. He's seriously a male sexpot walking around here. Vivien Leigh is terrific as Blanche. And that scene when he's out in the street yelling for his wife? Wow.

I liked this one. I give it an 8.

It was a good life

My favorite song of Chris Pureka's (although everything she sings is amazing).

Why don't you spell it out even more?

Apparently, I've been on a Clint Eastwood-directed movie spree all unknowingly. I think maybe Eastwood is not the director for me.


Mystic River is about three childhood friends. Something awful happens to one and they grow apart. Then something awful happens to another one and they come back together.


I'm not usually the biggest fan of any of the three leads - Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Kevin Bacon. However, I think they are all really good in this. Penn is nothing less than fantastic.


What drug this movie down for me is the heavy-handedness of the direction. They don't hint at connections between scenes - they spell it all out for you. The viewer is apparently too dumb to catch onto the similarities. And then after making it exceedingly obvious, there's a scene near the end when two of the characters have this completely out of character conversation and let you know how the past awful thing led to the current awful situation. Ugh! I only give this 4 stars - and Penn gets them all.

Ever since

(Image by Hisatomi Tadahiko)

Ever since happiness heard your name, it has been running through the streets trying to find you. – Hafiz

Changeling

We watched Changeling last night. I was struck by the film's resemblance to a This American Life story but apparently its based on a different true life story. The movie is all about a woman whose child disappears. After a search, the police bring her the wrong child. They and the boy insists that she's the boys mother.

The costumes in this were everything a person could hope for. Jolie looks stunning in them of course. The story is maddening. Jeffrey Donovan is so good as the policeman. It really is an engrossing tale.

The downside? I don't really feel like Jolie was very good in this one. She just seems to be playing herself which I found a little distracting. The child actor who breaks the case open is flat-out awful. I'm not sure what they were thinking with that casting.

I give this a 5.

Quite the mouse

This mouse toy from Parasite takes the cuteness cake. I love the oddball teeth best of all.

Grey and orange

This chair would be so perfect in my home. I love the gret against the orange cushion. Find this one at AdventureVintage.

Chic

This dress from PlanetClaireVintage is all kinds of marvelous. The color is sophisticated and the cut is dead sexy. Nicely done.

Fiddle-dee-dee

(Picture by Konaboy).

I tried a new veggie last night. Fiddlehead ferns showed up in my local market, and I had to give them a try. I made up my own recipe - pasta, fiddleheads, pesto, and toasted pinenuts. It was good. I sauteed the ferns in butter before tossing them in. A little bitter, but good.

Also, one to mark down on the grand 101 listy.

Little jaguar

As cute as this clutch by Yunisacs is (and dammit its super cute!) I can't help imagining how much cuter it would be as a dress. I realize my spazziness. However, someone should make me up a retro red poly-dotty dress and place a lil black panther at the bottom left hand side of the skirt part. Cute, non?

A mind full of fantasticness

The first thing you should know about Kelly Link's short story collection Pretty Monsters is that its a new collection of previously published tales. I did not realize that until two very familiar stories came up while reading it. Luckily one of those stories, "Magic for Beginners" is one of her very best.

I happened to adore "The Wizards of Perfil" as well as "The Constable of Abal" which made me want to hang all sorts of ribbons off my clothes in the hopes of collecting ghosts.

A few fell flat for me though. "Pretty Monsters" tried far too hard and "The Surfer" just didn't go far enough for my liking.

"The Specialist's Hat" shared a lot with the creepy cool "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman - in a great way of course.

I give this one a 7. Kelly Link's imagination is unparalleled.

Perfectly tinted

I must say that I'm loving the colors of these BeautifulBridget scarves. They are the perfect tints for my thinking.

Orange world

I kind of love this tapestry from Urban Outfitters and I know my husband would too. I love orange; he loves maps. Its like they made it just for us.

Fragile

Keri Smith's signs made my morning. I could have used the sign above to float over my head all yesterday when I was struck with a wicked case of the blue meanies.

Anais

(Amazing picture by victorvonsalza).

“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.” - Anais Nin

I like my games prettified

Check out Scarygirl. The game is cute and the graphics are A-MAZING. Via Jayisgames.

Perfect shade of green

Don't you think? Sophia dress found via Decor Amor.

All the perty colors

Oooh - don't you just adore this vibrant quilt by uniquelynancy?

Leonardo's Mona Lisa is just a thousand smears of paint.

Diary is a weird little tale. Its about a woman dealing with the aftermath of her contractor husband's failed suicide and the discovery that he's left nasty messages scrawled on the walls of the houses he's done work on. About halfway through you get a good idea of the general direction the story is heading in. And despite the fact that this isn't going anywhere happy, there's no getting off this ride.

This is the first Palahniuk novel I've read. A few passages made me squirm (there's a few painful scenes involving old junk jewelry), but I adored the parts where they explained the ingredients of different colors of paint.

The final page of this book is a clever little clincher. I give it a 6.5.

Adventure

I really dig this print by Matt Brown.

Creepy cool

Let the Right One In is such a creepy cool movie. Its a Swedish film about two twelve year olds - Oskar, a skinny little boy whose being bullied by classmates, and Eli who just happens to be a vampire.


Very little about this film is predictable. I love how everything unfolds naturally and the two main characters are done perfectly - awkward but oddly accepting.


I wish they had used subtitles on the dvd instead of voice overs. The voice overs are for the most part super bad. Super super bad. But even with that, the story shines through. Find out for yourself. I give it an 8.5.

Berry red

How fantastic would this chandelier look in an icy yellow or sky blue room? Or over my bathtub? Hmmm...

Chock full of accomplishments

Today I
- bought a shiny new camera for my photography-loving boy.
- planted pansies & violas in my flower pots.
- purchased a composter (even the boy was amazed about how excited I was over this. I've wanted it for FOREVER!)
- played far too much of a game I'm addicted to - The Wonderful End of the World

Front yard

tri-color beech
Originally uploaded by gryhrt

I'm pondering planting a tri-color beech in front of our home. Who doesn't love a happy pink tree?

Without a paddle

This film did the following for me:

1. Left me in awe of the scope of this project and the beauty of China.

2. Made me sad for the poor families forced to leave their farms.

3. Made me grimace in discomfort every time an American tourist was shown.

Honestly, its an interesting little film in its way. I wish they'd left out the storyline of the teenage boy. He didn't add a whole lot to the film. I give this a 5.

If I had a little girl

I'd be highly tempted to dress her in this sophisticated Judy Jetson-esque dress by mette.

Aggravation

I suppose I should be a little glad not to be sucked into yet another series, but I must admit that Birds of a Feather, the second in the Maisie Dobbs series, was a big letdown. The set-up is perfect - a lady detective in post WWI England. There's all the intriguing history, a population still recovering from the losses of war, interesting fashions, and upstairs / downstairs dynamic. And yet, this book was godawful.

My biggest complaint is how Maisie solves mysteries. Its all through mystical hunches and feelings. I think its just lazy writing.

This book also annoyed me with the constant mentions of how little Maisie eats. She's always skipping breakfast or only having a bite of something. At one point, one of Maisie's admirers comments on how she takes the batter off her fish before eating it. It does nothing to add to the character. It only makes me suspect that the author was dieting while writing this book.

I give this one a 2, and I'm swearing off the Maisie Dobbs series for good.

Comfort

I listen regularly to podcasts of Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe. His stories frequently revolve around Morley & Dave and their two kids, and they are frequently hysterical and touching at the same time.

So a book full of short stories about this family is something too good to pass up. And it did not disappoint. Home from the Vinyl Cafe makes you feel like a member of the community. Its comfort reading at its very best. I give it an 8.

Introspective

The Sea Inside is one of those films that took me forever to get around to watch, but I'm so glad I did. Its about a man who fights a 30 year battle to be able to end his own life. Its beautifully shot. The characters are al so well fleshed out. I constantly found myself wanting to hug the sister-in-law. I give it a 7.5.