birthday recap

Before March gets away from me I need to wrap up the birthday celebration for number four-three. It wasn’t quite the month-long event that it usually is, and little illnesses have been kicking my lobster (as the last boy likes to say), but I did manage to partake in a few freebies and I did receive some really fun gifts. So, for posterity’s sake, here’s the rundown…

I didn’t fully recover from the worst of this month’s sickness until well after my actual birthday of March 3rd but I did, at least, feel enough better on that day to get out of bed and get into the shower. MUCH NEEDED. I was gross from hair to toes, so I spent several hours of the birthday morning just inching around my flat to regain strength and wash away the grimy sick feeling. I was still too nauseous to actually eat anything, so I just made a giant cup of hot tea with a generous dose of honey to calm my coughing fits and then accompanied that with a banana. Yep, the good ole BRAT diet was still in effect. Just that short time of moving around in the morning pretty much did me in, so I spent the remainder of my birthday doing one of my all-time favorite chill-out activities: classic movies. Every year I record a slew of films during Turner Classic’s “31 Days of Oscar” and then I spend the following month trying to watch as many as possible. Being down and out on my birthday was the perfect excuse to knock a few titles off the DVR. Best of all, I had a couple of Paul Newman films in the list that I’d never actually seen before! Let’s face it: there’s pretty much no better gift than Paul Newman, is there? [Or Redford. Him too.] I had hoped to sneak in a couple more flicks on that day but by early evening I was just too weak to stay up, so I headed back to bed for another extra-long round of sleep. I did manage to get out on the following day, Sunday, to meet my parents for lunch and to pick up a couple of my birthday freebies, and I made a little trip to Target as well to use a gift card, but that little adventure proved too much too soon and it took another couple days to regain any strength I’d gathered over the weekend. Interestingly, as my body was getting better, my voice took a downward spiral until I had complete laryngitis! Still, slowly but surely, the first week of 43 allowed me to make use of some fun little freebies and to regain enough strength to begin returning to life (such as it is these days).

I made my first true birthday outing on Friday the 9th. This was the last day of school before the kids’ Spring Break and I had an ice cream freebie that was due to expire that same day, so I picked up the last boy from his school (getting him released early, much to his surprise!) and together we had a couple hours of celebration. Ice cream just wasn’t something I could really tolerate yet, so I took the Pickle to Ben & Jerry’s and let him use my freebie. He’d not been there often so he took some time to taste a few of the flavors, including my favorite Cherry Garcia, but in the end he returned to an old standby – Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. From there we crossed the shopping center to Starbucks to redeem the freebie that I most needed this year: piping hot Caramel Apple Spice cider with a bit of whipped cream to smooth it out. The boy and I sat in Starbucks for a long while and just enjoyed the time out with the sweet treats. And that’s when I truly felt I was finally celebrating my birthday.

There’s a lot to be said for being single, and I really don’t ever feel lonely, so birthdays on my own are actually enjoyable. But after being so out of touch and so ill this year, I really did find great comfort in being with family and getting out of my own space. I love being alone as much as I am, but sometimes you just need to be reminded of the world outside.

The rest of this month has brought fun little surprises and more freebies that just feel like extra little gifts for my birthday. I’ve still not felt well more than 20% of the time, but there have been enough good moments to feel that I did get to celebrate my birth month. I suppose that’s more than many people in their forties ever do anyway. But I love having a month that is all about me, and I don’t mind getting older. Despite my body’s rebellion I still feel like a 21-year-old looking for whatever is coming down the road. And I cherish that as a gift from God. Getting to spend this month with family and celebrate (long-distance) with my best good friend reminds me how blessed I am and how exciting it is to be given another year of life. That’s not a bad way to spend any birthday! So let me just say, thanks so much, you guys! For a month that could’ve gone to the dogs, it really did turn out to be a pretty good birthday celebration. Love you all!

blogging with Paul Newman... Watching him is a good way to spend any birthday!

 

birthday breakfast: hot tea with honey + a little banana on the side

    

OMG, it's Batman! Adam West (for about a minute) in 'The Young Philadelphians'

 

my birthday face, attempting to refresh from the week of grimy sickness

 

a few of my birthday freebies that were used this year (plus a Target card reward that came at exactly the right time)

 

Maybe my favorite freebie meal this year, just for the sheer comfort factor: chicken pesto panini with red beans & rice (from Jason's Deli) plus a side of potato salad (from McAlister's)

 

My free Sacher Torte from La Madeleine didn't taste right this year – perhaps because my taste buds had not yet returned to normal – so I went out later in the month for a good piece of chocolate cake. It's just not my birthday without chocolate cake!

 

My parents surprised me with my very own box of Girl Scout cookies... in the only flavor I actually like. I'm still savoring these little darlin's. You just can't get these on any old day!

 

Spinning the (in)decision wheel at Ben & Jerry's, the Pickle actually landed on the same flavor he had already chosen. Serendipitous!

 

much-needed hot apple cider (my throat was so happy!) and a piece of berry-licious coffee cake, just for the treat of it. See how it's sitting inside that little brown bag? I managed to hide the entire piece from the Dyl Pickle until I had only one bite left. His eyes grew quite large when he saw that I'd been eating cake and realized he'd missed the whole thing. Ha!

 

My birthday buddy! Everywhere we went, the Pickle rushed ahead to open my car door before getting into the back seat. I finally made him pause long enough to capture the sweet gesture.

 

Back in December I received my first birthday gift: the Project Life Core Kit which I'd mentioned over and over until my parents finally asked if I'd like to just order it immediately. Why yes, yes I would! You'll see more of this project as the year progresses.

 

My sister's family gave me this great shopping bag (that could not scream my name any louder!) and filled it with a couple of crafting tools I recently mentioned wanting: super-sharp craft scissors with teflon coating and a large cutting mat that will provide a bigger surface for my projects than the little 6-inch board I've been using. I think this bag was the best of the three items, though. I'm a sucker for a fun bag!

 

Lastly, my best good friend, Cerella, capped off the month with a glorious box of goodies that were all themed toward Old World maps and the creative journey. She'd been gathering gifts for this box well over a year's time, and it was just very good timing that she was able to wrap it up during my birth month. It was a fantastic way to cap off this year's celebration!

 

Every single thing is very personal to me, from the great little butterfly ornaments and the scrapbook with corresponding kit to the amazing clock and that little container with Mona Lisa pictured on it. That little item? Purchased at the Louvre in Paris. Couldn't love it more!

 

The nifty box at the top of this photo is a pretty cool story in itself: I've been looking for a large box to place on my coffee table and haven't found just what I wanted. This one, with its fun map design, perfectly fits with the other items on the table. I couldn't have chosen a more perfect box! As for the little supplies at the bottom, those just hit my great love of office supplies and things brought to us by the color green. But the book on the right is the real treasure. According to Cerella, she thought me the perfect recipient, one who would draw as much from its pages as she did. Love that!

 

See what I mean about the box being a perfect fit for my coffee table? The other little rounded box and the book beneath it were previous gifts and all feature the Old World theme. It's something I've loved for many years and it just makes me so happy to have such gifts on display, especially when it looks like I planned it all myself. Just awesome!

 

Finally, next to that clock I would've purchased for myself had I found it (and above the little jar of cake pops.. yum!), is a book about story mapping. What makes this so cool is that I've been lamenting the fact that I began writing a story (for Cerella!) over 18 months ago and have made very little progress on it. I've been frustrated with not being able to write with the ease that I once could. Bless her, she's listened to me fret for far too long and during a recent discussion she mentioned how valuable mapping can be for story-writing. I've never done it before, so this little gem is exactly what I needed. That's what makes Cerella my best good friend – she knows those things that I need, just when I need them. (*You're* the best gift, girl!)

 

You know what else? Cerella's gifts were even wrapped in awesomeness, and I saved every single piece of this cool tissue paper. Some things are just too good to recycle... just yet. And now, whenever I use it for other gifts, I'll always think of this fun birthday box and the love that came with it. Best! Ever!

 

things that are awesome :: Katharine Hepburn films

Each week The Bumbles Blog posts a movie-themed question that always makes me think a bit but rarely stirs enough to create a full blog post in response. But this week… oh, this week I have to respond. The topic is: Share your favorite moments, memories or films featuring Katharine Hepburn. Since the Great Kate is my all-time favorite actress, it’s imperative that I expound upon it.

To the best of my memory, my introduction to Katharine Hepburn came in 1981 with On Golden Pond. I was a mere 12 years old when I saw the film with my parents at the cinema, and I had yet to discover Ms. Hepburn in films but was well-aware of her legend. I knew Jane Fonda very well by then, and was more familiar with Henry Fonda than Hepburn, but I remember that Kate intrigued me with her character’s sunny disposition and with her own innate grace. It would be a few more years before I discovered Hepburn’s true greatness and had a chance to dive into her body of work, but I remembered her name and her face (and her distinctive voice and signature style) from the moment I first saw her.

Still, it was The Philadelphia Story that sealed my great love for Kate. I hadn’t yet latched onto classic films as the greatest love of my entertainment life (TCM hadn’t launched yet), but I was watching an episode of thirtysomething and became utterly intrigued when The Philadelphia Story was used as part of the plot. By that time I was a huge fan of Jimmy Stewart, having been charmed by him for many years already, and the few clips of the film that aired during thirtysomething were so enchanting that I knew I had to rent it immediately. It took less than 10 minutes for me to fall head over heels for both Hepburn and Cary Grant, whom I wasn’t yet familiar with either, and by the end of this first viewing I knew I’d become a lifelong fan of all three stars. The Philadelphia Story changed my opinion of “old” films, and I daresay it made me a fan of classic cinema. It wasn’t long after that I first saw It’s a Wonderful Life, as well, and my general love of movies became a great love of film and film history. And though I’ve seen many, many films from the Golden Age of Hollywood (and beyond), no actor has ever compared to Katharine Hepburn in my mind. Only one comes close — that being Cate Blanchett — but none can ever surpass the first Kate’s greatness. I read her autobiography a few years ago, and even in her real voice about her own life (and generally no-holds-barred), Kate Hepburn has never ceased to amaze and charm me. She was definitely one of a kind.

And so, in order of my love for them, the following are my favorite films featuring Katharine Hepburn. I’ve yet to see even a third of her filmography, but I look forward to expanding this list throughout the course of my life.

The Philadelphia Story	Hepburn is Tracy Lord, a wealthy socialite preparing for her second marriage, who is being shadowed on the eve of her wedding by two tabloid journalists (played by Jimmy Stewart and Ruth Hussey). Tracy’s ex-husband (Cary Grant) also shows up, and a delightfully screwball comedy ensues wherein Tracy realizes she still has feelings for her first husband and is also developing new feelings for Stewart’s reporter. The film is funny and heartwarming and features layered performances by all of its stars.
Bringing Up Baby	Hepburn and Grant are teamed again in this silly little comedy involving a fossilized dinosaur bone, a pet leopard named Baby, a one-sided infatuation, and a case of mistaken identity. The premise of the film is truly ridiculous, but the performances of Hepburn and Grant (as well as the deft directing of Howard Hawks) redeem any flaws to make this film hilarious in every way. Bringing Up Baby also features my all-time favorite Hepburn movie quote, spoken as she limped along with one heel broken off her high-heeled shoes: “I was born on the side of a hill. I was born on the side of a hill.” Makes me laugh every time I think of it!
Without Love	It took me a long, long time to appreciate Spencer Tracy, but it was Without Love that finally brought me around. He is utterly charming as a brilliant scientist working on a classified project for the military during World War II, and his interactions with Hepburn are so subtle and understated that I began to really root for their characters and forget about their real-life romance. Hepburn plays a widow attempting to begin her life anew when she finds that Tracy has finagled himself into her empty house and made it his home base. He manages to charm her into letting him stay, and in turn she begins to serve as his assistant on the project. After a while they decide that it would benefit them both to get married but vow to remain unemotional about the entire business. The charm of the film comes in the many ways they try to remain platonic in their relationship and avoid falling in love. (You can read my original thoughts on the film here.)
Stage Door	In a New York City boarding house, an eclectic mix of aspiring actresses live together (and often compete) while attempting to break into the theatre business on Broadway. Each woman has a particular dream, each woman has a string of disappointments, and each woman has a personality that sets her apart from her peers. The cast of this 1937 film is incredible, including Ginger Rogers, Eve Arden and a young Lucille Ball, but Katharine Hepburn is especially memorable as (yet another) wealthy society darling who seeks to develop a career without her family’s connections. Hepburn plays her character of Terry Randall as arrogant and entitled but also fearful and insecure. What makes Stage Door so enchanting is the interaction between the women and the cacophonous rhythm of the film. I still think about various scenes months and months after seeing it for the first time. (Read my original thoughts on the film here.)
Honorable Mention to The African Queen	Hepburn plays a prim and snooty English missionary who must rely on a boorish steamboat captain (Humphrey Bogart) to transport her out of Eastern Africa when World War I finally reaches her region. Along the way, she convinces the captain to put his small craft to good use and contribute to the British war effort by attacking a German warship with their own constructed torpedo. It would be incredibly zany if not for the two lead actors, whose chemistry is delightful in this film and who each have such high regard for the other. Hepburn wrote an entire book about the experience of making The African Queen and their interaction on screen is enhanced by the journey they took together behind the scenes. It’s a beautiful film, brilliantly directed by John Huston, and it is fully anchored by Hepburn and Bogart, with most of the film being nothing more than the two of them in concerted discourse. There was a time when I thought the film to be tedious and very, very long, but upon successive viewings I’ve come to recognize how enchanting it really is. It’s also one of the first films that helped me understand what women saw in Humphrey Bogart. I know… it should’ve been Casablanca that did that, but it was Hepburn’s interaction with him in The African Queen that finally made him endearing to me, as well. This film was the first time I started to understand his magnetism, and I’ll always believe I have Ms. Hepburn to thank for that.

Monthly Movie Round-Up :: January 2011

 

Resident Evil: Afterlife — January 3, 2011 / DVD
The Resident Evil movies are not really my taste, but for some reason the filmmakers keep casting people I love to see. I saw the first one because James Purefoy was involved, and then watched the sequel because of Oded Fehr. The third one didn’t interest me at all, and then I learned that Jason O’Mara had taken a role in it. And Wentworth Miller joined the most recent one, so of course I had to see that one, too. None of the first three interested me enough to watch for story, instead using my fast-forward button to skip through until my actors came onscreen. But with RE: Afterlife, I found an actual interest in the story itself. For the first time the movie came off pretty cool to me. They’re not meant to be great cinema, of course, but there was true fun in this latest installment and I didn’t expect that.
 
 

Mother and Child — January 5, 2011 / DVD
I hadn’t heard of Mother and Child until scanning the filmography of favorite Marc Blucas, but when I saw a trailer it seemed an interesting premise, as well. The film follows three main characters who each have a story involving motherhood: Annette Bening mourns the loss of a daughter she gave up for adoption a lifetime ago; Naomi Watts shields herself from all emotion because she never knew her own parents; and Kerry Washington struggles with an inability to conceive and a desire to become a mother at all costs. Their lives weave in and out of heartache and joy, and their personal journeys eventually intersect unexpectedly. Jimmy Smits and Samuel L. Jackson also co-star, but their roles are merely springboards for Bening and Watts. As the tale progressed I found myself drawn further and further into the story, to the point where I finally stopped multitasking and gave the movie my entire focus. I never expected to find this movie that engaging! Despite a true distaste for Watts’s character — she displays a harshness I’ve never seen from her — I found Mother and Child engrossing and eventually heartwarming. It’s not a great film, but it’s the kind of movie that is quite moving, especially to women.
 
 

Passengers — January 7, 2011 / Encore
In the past year I’ve lost my taste for Anne Hathaway, finding her more and more pretentious with every new project she creates, but this older film also featured Patrick Wilson so I opted to give it a chance. All I can really say is that Passengers is an odd little film. A plane crash brings Wilson and other survivors into Hathaway’s life, where she is the therapist assigned to their “case.” As the story progresses, her patients begin to disappear and in solving that mystery she finds that the plane crash isn’t the accident it seemed to be. Wilson is terrific in his role, and David Morse plays his part of a menacing airline executive beautifully. The conclusion is a bit more twisty than I expected, but I didn’t ever feel the need to turn the movie off. Though it’s more on scale with afternoon or late-night TV airings, Passengers isn’t such a bad little film. Just… different.
 
 

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House — January 9, 2011 / Turner Classic Movies
My love for Cary Grant is well-documented here, and I’ve been wanting to watch this particular classic for years but never quite made time for it. All I knew is that it was supposedly one of his funniest roles. I’ll admit that it was humorous, but I didn’t find it to be among his best, to be honest. It’s a fun little movie about a New York City adman moving his family out of the city and eventually having to custom-build their dream home. The movie is filled with sight gags and punchlines, and Myrna Loy is sweet but uninspiring as Grant’s wife. Quite often I thought that she and Grant weren’t being given enough to do, which left the film a bit flat for me. But there was just enough fun to keep me interested to the end, so in that regard the film was enjoyable.
 
 

The Thin Man — January 9, 2011 / Turner Classic Movies
The Thin Man is where Myrna Loy truly shined. Much was made of her chemistry with William Powell in their roles of socialites Nick and Nora Charles, and everything that has been said is still true today. They are charming in these roles, and the film holds up as well today as it did upon its release in 1934. The Thin Man is a true classic, a keen mystery with humor and suspense and even a bit of action thrown in for good measure. It’s no wonder this film spawned a series of sequels! The Charleses become sleuths who never lose their grace or their ability to find the fun in each situation. In the end, the mystery wasn’t even the important part. Simply getting to know Nick and Nora made the movie incredibly fun.
 
 

Queen Bee — January 9, 2011 / Turner Classic Movies
Little by little I’m working through Joan Crawford‘s filmography out of respect for my best good friend and her love of the actress. I’ve never been a fan before, but the more movies I watch the more I see Crawford’s greatness. With Queen Bee I was most surprised to learn that this was one of the only roles she played as a villain. I suppose it’s her personal history (or rather, her daughter Christina’s personal history) that makes us believe Crawford played villains all the time. Instead, she was really just one of the studio’s greatest assets for playing any type of character at all. The more I see her films, the more I understand how true this was. Queen Bee showed Crawford’s range in an extraordinary way, allowing her to infuse the character with just a touch of remorse even while embodying the overbearing and manipulative socialite who schemes against anyone threatening her personal agenda. The cast is rich with extraordinary actors and a wealth of interesting characters, and the movie resembles a stage play in its pacing and character interplay. And even the melodrama that is always present in films of this era serves the movie well and provides a perfect ending to an intricate tale. I can see why this film is one of Cerella‘s favorite Crawford flicks!
 
 

The Lion in Winter — January 9, 2011 / Turner Classic Movies
Yet again I discovered that I’ve not seen nearly as many Katharine Hepburn films as I thought I had. The Lion in Winter has always seemed so familiar to me, yet I’ve apparently only seen the same moments again and again throughout the years, leading me to believe I knew the performances by Hepburn and Peter O’Toole better than I actually did. In reality, this was my first complete viewing. O’Toole’s King Henry II and Hepburn as his wife-slash-adversary Eleanor of Aquitaine are so equally matched in their ferocity that viewing the film is much like watching a military battle; they spar and retreat and lunge again as if their lives depended on it. And it’s a glorious sight to behold. Providing equally dramatic support is Anthony Hopkins in one of his first feature film appearances, and though he’s not immediately recognizable, he absolutely holds his own against his legendary co-stars. The story is set around Henry’s plan to name his successor to the throne and Eleanor’s schemes to make sure he names their first-born instead of his favored younger son, but the heart of the film really lies in the interactions between characters. It’s a roller coaster of emotional scenes that pack more and more punch as the film progresses. Which often brings as much exhaustion to the viewer as it did to the actors delivering the scenes. The Lion in Winter remains a classic because few performances could ever equal those of Hepburn, O’Toole and Hopkins.
 
 

Legends of the Fall — January 9, 2011 / Encore
When this film was released and Brad Pitt hysteria began, I did not see the appeal of either Pitt or the movie. It took me almost a decade to see the merit of Pitt’s talent (in Ocean’s Eleven and then Spy Game), and finally I decided to go back and watch Legends of the Fall. Once again I realize how much I miss when I make snap judgments! I loved Legends. Absolutely loved it! It’s the kind of movie I adore, with its nod to Native American history and aspects of frontier life, and I was reminded how great Pitt was in his early years when acting was the focus of his career (before he was “Brad Pitt, superstar”). Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Henry Thomas, and Julia Ormond each brought additional depth to the movie that made it so beautiful and so engaging, and Gordon Tootoosis presented the heart and soul that he is always known for. Though Legends of the Fall is mostly a love story, it is not just a historical romance but rather a tale of family and redemption and perseverance. All of the things that make a movie great.
 
 

The Long Kiss Goodnight — January 11, 2011 / Encore
Long have I seen this film on lists of movies that are overlooked by the masses, and long has Cerella told me to put it on my viewing list, but until I came across it unexpectedly on Encore I really never made a plan for it. Geena Davis isn’t one of my favorite actors (though I have enjoyed her from time to time) and Renny Harlin has never elicited a confidence in me (sorry, C, but I just don’t see the appeal!). But during a long night of insomnia, this movie seemed a perfect choice to pass the time. And I did enjoy it, somewhat, though I found a lot of it to be as hokey as other Harlin films have been. I also don’t subscribe to the notion that it compares to the Bourne films in any way. The only similarity is the premise of Davis’s character regaining her memory of being an assassin before developing amnesia. Beyond that, the Bourne films are a thousand times better and those stories far more complex. That’s just my opinion, of course, and had I seen The Long Kiss Goodnight when it was released (six years prior to Matt Damon’s The Bourne Identity) I may have felt differently about it. But since the Bourne trilogy is one of my favorite cinematic joys, I just don’t see as much value in Davis and Harlin’s creation as most people seem to find. Although I loved seeing David Morse as his younger, thinner self! Beyond that, I can’t say The Long Kiss Goodnight is much more than a classic 90s film, when movies were stuck between emerging technologies and over-the-top acting.
 
 

Rising Sun — January 11, 2011 / Encore
Speaking of bad movies from the 90s, Rising Sun is one of the worst. I honestly wish I’d never seen this movie. It’s vulgar, it’s distasteful, and it’s a perfect showcase for how bad Wesley Snipes can be. I hated it, and I hated that Sean Connery was involved. Rising Sun just had so much potential and failed miserably on all accounts.
 
 

Doubt — January 15, 2011 / Encore
Like most everyone on the planet, I find Meryl Streep phenomenal, and her performance in Doubt is as good as anything she’s ever done. It’s easy to forget how forceful she can be when she plays a string of fun roles like Mamma Mia and Julie & Julia, but as Sister Aloysius, a severe nun at a Bronx Catholic school in 1964, Streep is nothing short of mesmerizing. But what makes Doubt such a great film are the equally powerful performances of her co-stars: Amy Adams as a young protégée and Philip Seymour Hoffman as a priest accused by Aloysius of an inappropriate relationship with a male student. The movie doesn’t provide definitive proof of the priest’s crime, so a viewer is left to question in the same way as Streep’s and Adams’s characters. And that’s what makes the film so compelling. I was torn by my own swaying opinions throughout the movie, even as I was quick to find Aloysius much too harsh on Hoffman’s Father Flynn. It’s Adams’s naïve Sister James who gives the movie its heart and its softer edges, proving without a doubt that her Oscar nomination for this role was well-deserved. Doubt is a film I chose to see because of its Oscar connection, but it turned out to be much more interesting than anticipated.
 
 

I Capture the Castle — January 15, 2011 / Encore
Sometimes a movie is so unexpectedly good that I am surprised I’ve never heard of it before, and then I wonder why the world isn’t talking about it, too. I Capture the Castle is just such a film — one that I watched because of a single actor’s involvement (Marc Blucas) and discovered to be on the same level of quality as Pride & Prejudice and Atonement and any number of British dramas. It’s the story of Cassandra, a young woman trying to find balance in life as her eccentric father struggles to write an elusive novel, her sister toys with the hearts of two American suitors, and she falls in love with one of those suitors herself. To make matters worse, the Americans actually own the crumbling castle that Cassandra’s family calls home, and a childhood friend has fallen in love with her but finds his own affections unrequited. The story is complex and romantic and heartbreaking and quite often very funny, and I found myself thinking how much more I would’ve enjoyed Atonement if it had included even a little of the light-heartedness found in Castle. I loved the latter from its first act, and I still can’t believe it remained hidden from me all these years. But no longer! I know that I Capture the Castle will be on my list of go-to Brit flicks from here on out. And, surprisingly, it has very little to do with my love for Marc Blucas.
 
 

They — January 16, 2011 / TV Broadcast
When you watch movies because of their casts of actors, you’re often assured of some horrible experiences, even if the actors themselves do their best in the roles. So I watch a lot of really bad films just for the sake of seeing actors I love, and They is one such movie. It’s nothing I would choose to watch, as it is a Wes Craven film and, therefore, bordering on horror, but I gave it a bit of time for that Blucas fellow mentioned above. This was early in his career, so I expected that I wouldn’t have to endure much of the film in order to see him — and that was true — but the movie wasn’t so disturbing that I felt the need to skip over much of it, either. I simply let it run and averted my eyes when the creep-factor came into play. It’s not a good film. It doesn’t even feature good performances. It’s just a creepy pseudo-thriller. But I enjoyed Blucas in his few onscreen moments, and that’s all I expected from the movie in the first place.
 
 

The Dark Knight — January 22, 2011 / TV broadcast
I’ve seen this movie several times and love it just as much on each successive viewing, but this time I experienced an interesting moment as the Joker threw his rampage into overdrive in the third act of the film. For the first time since it was released, I didn’t feel sadness at the loss of Heath Ledger. Each previous viewing was bittersweet, and a point would inevitably come when his death overshadowed the onscreen glee. It’s not that reality threatened to derail his performance, but that I simply felt the void of not getting any more chances to see how far his talent could have taken him. But this time, on this fifth or sixth viewing, I didn’t feel that melancholy. I was able to fully experience the Joker’s sadistic joy and be truly entertained without once considering what the world had lost. It wasn’t until hours later that it hit me, but it came without grief this time. Just an awareness and a thankfulness that Ledger’s greatest performance was captured for eternity.
 
 

The Bourne Ultimatum — January 29, 2011 / TV Broadcast
I’m a sucker for the Bourne movies. Even when I don’t have any plans to watch them, even when I haven’t thought about them for months, if I happen upon one of them in my TV surfing, I’m there for the duration. I love them, I love Matty Damon, I love the Bourne character and the many supporting actors who contribute to the overall story arc. I never tire of these movies. That said, I’m far more partial to Identity and Supremacy than I am to this third chapter. Ultimatum wasn’t the conclusion I hoped it would be, despite answering the key questions about Jason Bourne. (I’m happy to hear that a fourth Bourne just may be in the works. I’ve always felt a little cheated.) But I did watch this airing of The Bourne Ultimatum in its entirety because (a) I had no other plans, and (b) I love Julia Stiles‘s character in this one more than any other. It’s important to watch all of the chapters in a series, even when you don’t necessarily enjoy them all. It’s important to keep the story complete in your mind. And so I do, and I did. And it was just as much fun as the first time.
 
Also seen in January: Ondine, The Social Network, The King’s Speech, and Winter’s Bone.
 

this week I love :: the first snow day of the year

How timely was one of this week’s Plinky prompts! On the very day this one arrived there were giant snowflakes falling outside my window and I had been snapping photos for a blog post. Like minds!
 
How do you stay entertained when you are snowed in?

The snow came Sunday morning after a night of rain and sleet, and it continued all day. Then the temperatures stayed well below freezing overnight and turned the streets into the dreaded black ice that plagues Texas winters, so schools were closed on Monday and our snow day was extended. Though the roads were cleared by Tuesday, we still have snow on the ground even today because our temperatures have remained in the low 30s during the day and in the teens at night. This is not a typical North Texas winter! Last year we saw the same kind of snow but it lasted only one day and didn’t arrive until February. If this early snow is any indication, we may have a really awesome white winter ahead of us. And that makes me very happy!

While the snow was coming down on Sunday I just stayed indoors and enjoyed the scene outside my window. Giant snowflakes swirling through the north winds, classic movies on my TV all day, taco soup simmering in the slow cooker, and a little digital scrapping in my pajamas. That is truly a PERFECT day in my book!

First up on the movie marathon was Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. After that I watched The Thin Man with William Powell and Myrna Loy, which I found truly delightful, and then I enjoyed Joan Crawford (with John Ireland, below) in Queen Bee. Later, I was mesmerized by Katharine Hepburn and Peter O’Toole in The Lion in Winter, and capped off the day with my first viewing (I know, I know!) of Legends of the Fall, which reminded me once again how good an actor Brad Pitt was before he was “Brad Pitt.”
 

In case you didn’t know, taco soup is the perfect meal for a cold winter day. Trust me!

 

Films I Saw in 2010 :: The Complete List

Though I keep a fairly good running commentary of movies that I see at the cinema and on DVD throughout each year, I’m not able to devote time to each and every film I watch through all of the mediums currently available. However, in recent years I have made it a habit to keep a simple daily log of all the TV and movies that I watch over the 12-month period, and I try to post a simple blurb about anything that stands out or surprises me. This year’s list of movies is probably 99% complete — allowing for a missed calendar entry here or there — and I have also included a basic rating from zero (depicted as “— —”) to 5 stars. This rating is purely subjective, of course, and most often derived from emotional connections (or lack thereof) and whether I found any merit in the performances of the players. You will see, for instance, that I may have given a median rating to a few truly horrible movies and then given a lesser rating to a film that performed better with the critics or the masses; my reasoning is often that I found the ensemble of actors to wholeheartedly commit to their characters, even when there was no way to salvage the film (as in Smokin’ Aces 2), but did not see such engagement in the film of higher expectation (such as Whiteout). Similarly, I ranked a few critically-acclaimed films (and Oscar-recognized classics) lower in my estimation because they did not resonate with me personally, but may have found a deeper connection to a film with a great many flaws. Like I said, it’s all very subjective. But that’s the reason I love movies so much in the first place and why I spend time documenting these thoughts each year. In ten or twenty or thirty years, some of these films may affect me differently, and I will appreciate having a record of my thought process at this stage of my life.

Feel free to add your own thoughts and opinions about the movies listed here. I’d love to know how they may have affected you!
 

	28 Days Later (TV)		Last of Mrs. Cheyney, The (TCM)
	42nd Street (TCM)		Lawrence of Arabia (TCM)
	Above Suspicion (TCM)		Layer Cake (Starz)
	Abyss, The (TV)		Legend of Bagger Vance, The (TV)
	Across the Universe (TV)		Love In The Afternoon (TCM)
	Adam (DVD)		Lying To Be Perfect (Lifetime)
	African Queen, The (TCM)		Man on Fire (AMC)
	Alice (miniseries) (SyFy)		Marley & Me (HBO)
	Alice Adams (TCM)		Matrix, The (TV)
	Alice in Wonderland 3-D (DVD)		Matrix Reloaded, The (TV)
	All That Jazz (AMC)		Matrix Revolutions, The (TV)
	All the King’s Men (1949) (TCM)		Meet Me In St. Louis (TCM)
	Amelia (Pay-Per-View)		Miracle on 34th Street (1947) (AMC)
	American Psycho (Starz)		Mr. and Mrs. Loving (TV)
	An American in Paris (TCM)		Mrs. Miniver (TCM)
	August Rush (Starz)		Murder on the Orient Express (2010) (Masterpiece Mystery)
	Band Wagon, The (TCM)		My Blueberry Nights (IFC)
	Becoming Jane (Starz)		Night At The Opera, The (TCM)
	Body of Lies (HBO)		No Reservations (Starz)
	Breakfast at Tiffany’s (TCM)		Notorious (TCM)
	Bright Lights, Big City (AMC)		Paris Blues (TCM)
	Brubaker (TCM)		Pitch Black (TV)
	Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (TCM)		Pride & Prejudice (TCM)
	Casablanca (TCM)		Ransom! (1956) (TCM)
	Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (TCM)		Red Eye (TV)
	Catch Me If You Can (TV)		Reds (TCM)
	Changeling (DVD)		Right Stuff, The (TV)
	Charlie Wilson’s War (HBO)	—/span>	Ring of Deceit (Lifetime)
	Chronicles of Narnia, The: Voyage of the Dawn Treader (cinema)		Riverworld (SyFy)
	Cincinnati Kid, The (TCM)		Robin Hood (cinema)
	Count of Monte Cristo, The (Encore)		Roman Holiday (TCM)
	Crazy Heart (DVD)		Room With A View, A (TCM)
	Cutthroat Island (AMC)		Runaways, The (DVD)
	Da Vinci Code, The (TV)		Salt (cinema)
	Dances With Wolves (TCM)		Serpico (AMC)
	Deadly Isolation (Lifetime)		Sex and the City (TV edit)
	Deep Blue Sea (TV)		Sherlock Holmes (DVD)
	Dial M For Murder (TCM)		Single Man, A (DVD)
	Diary of Anne Frank (Masterpiece Classic)		Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball (DVD)
	Dirty Dozen, The (TCM)		Some Like It Hot (TCM)
	Doctor Zhivago (2002) (TV)		Somebody Up There Likes Me (TCM)
	Dreamgirls (TV)		Splendor in the Grass (TCM)
	Duplicity (HBO)		Stage Door (TCM)
	Eagle Eye (HBO)		Sunset Boulevard (TCM)
	Eat Pray Love (DVD)		Sweet Bird of Youth (TCM)
	Eloise at the Plaza (Disney Channel)	—	Swimfan (DVD)
	Few Good Men, A (TV)		Swiss Family Robinson (TCM)
	From Here To Eternity (TCM)		Taps (AMC)
	Frozen (DVD)		Tender Mercies (TCM)
	Gangs of New York (TV)		Terminator Salvation (HBO)
	Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (TCM)		The 60s (miniseries) (TV)
	Ghost Writer, The (DVD)		The Expendables (Pay-Per-View)
	Gracie (TV)		The Pacific (DVD)
	Grand Hotel (TCM)		Time Traveler’s Wife, The (PPV)
	Green Zone (Pay-Per-View)		Titanic (TV)
	Gypsy (1962) (TCM)		To Catch a Thief (TCM)
	Harper (TCM)		To Kill A Mockingbird (TCM)
	High Fidelity (TV)		Toy Story 3 (cinema)
	Holiday Inn (TCM)		Unanswered Prayers (Lifetime)
	Hud (TCM)		Until They Sail (TCM)
	Hurt Locker, The (DVD)		Up In The Air (cinema)
	In Cold Blood (HBO)		Veronica Guerin (Starz)
	Inception (cinema)		War and Peace (TCM)
	Inside Daisy Clover (TCM)		West Side Story (TCM)
	Intermezzo: A Love Story (TCM)		Where The Wild Things Are (DVD)
	International, The (Encore)		White Christmas (TCM)
	It’s a Wonderful Life (TV)	—	Whiteout (DVD)
	Jeremiah Johnson (TCM)		Without Love (TCM)
	Jumper (TV)	—	Wuthering Heights (1939) (TCM)
	Key Largo (TCM)		X-Men Origins: Wolverine (DVD)
	Knight and Day (cinema)		Year Without a Santa Claus, The (TV)