Showing posts with label Movie Monday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movie Monday. Show all posts

Monday, July 31, 2023

Movie Monday ~ Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

 

Image courtesy Wikipedia.

So for our anniversary a couple of weeks ago, we stayed in and stayed cool with shakes from Jack in the Box and a movie.

Movie of choice was Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, which takes place in a realm of the Dungeons & Dragons world called the Forgotten Realms and was a really cute film. Click the link to Wikipedia above to read the plot (for more about the ode to D&D, click the movie title).

But what I thought was nice was that it was mostly a family film. There was violence and a few cuss words, but no blood to speak of when people were wounded. So if you're looking for something fun and relatively light-hearted, this is a good choice.

Okay, so this wasn't the expansive post I meant it to be, but things went awry for the post I planned on having for today...that one will hopefully come Thursday instead. Apologies...

Hope you had a good weekend.

 

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Monday, August 1, 2022

Movie Monday ~ Downton Abbey: A New Era

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

I had hoped to see this in the theater, but it wasn't meant to be...

Fast forward a month and a half and I received a discount on a subscription to Peacock Plus for three months and so I bit...

So the film provided an interesting ending to the whole Downton Abbey saga. It wrapped up a few lingering plot lines and relationships, and it provided the backstory to one of the long-standing mysteries while also sending the Downton matriarch to her final resting place. RIP Violet Grantham.

*

So let's see...

Old Lady Grantham played by Dame Maggie Smith inherited a villa on the French riviera, which she promptly bequeathed to the one grandchild who will have the least amount of inherited wealth as she grows up.

The family was invited to the villa where clues add up that lead everyone to believe that Old Lady Grantham had a wild fling and that her son, the current earl is illegitimate. The truth is revealed at the end of the movie.

Meanwhile, a movie was being filmed at the family estate in exchange for some much needed cash to fix the leaking roof of the family homestead.

I imagine this is the last we'll see of the Downton Abbey crew--those who hadn't gotten their happily ever after were finally given them...even the lone representative of the LGBTQ+ community got one. So yay. As the writer of MM romance, I was very happy to see that.

If you've been a fan of the franchise, I'm sure you'll enjoy the final sendoff.

If you've seen it, let me know what you thought in the comments.

Have a great week.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: ,

Monday, October 31, 2016

(Movie) TV Monday







DH and I started watching Arrow...a show about a youngish guy who returns to the world after having been lost at sea/on a not-so-deserted island for five years and immediately sets to writing the wrongs of his father and other ultra-rich men who've wronged the citizens and city of Starling City.

It's based on the DC Comic character, which I guess I have a theme (or two) going--still watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with DH too, but we're all caught up with what's now airing on regular TV so that's a once a week endeavor.

Anyway, the premise is interesting and Stephen Amell who plays Oliver Queen/Arrow isn't horrible to look at so.

Most of my gripes center around the fact that friends and family think this guy has returned unchanged from being mostly on his own for five years. He hides most of what he went through from them, but really? You gotta think even even hadn't been captured or tortured, he's still probably got some sort of PTSD going on or something. Why hasn't he been sent to a therapist??

On the other hand, it's a DC Comic character so some suspension of disbelieve is in order.

The other show I've discovered is Designated Survivor.


This show is revolves around the Designated Survivor--the government official not allowed attend the State of the Union in case the unthinkable happens. Which does. The Capitol Building is bombed and the HUD Secretary becomes POTUS.

The writers have done a great job so far. The victories are small and short-lived. But the hits, as Tom Cruise's character in A Few Good Men says, just keep on coming. One after the other after the other.

Anyone watching either one of these?? What do you think?



Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Monday, August 29, 2016

Movie (TV) Monday: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D...


How about something not related to writing??

DH and I finished our re-watch of The West Wing and decided on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as the next TV show we watch together. He's seen it before. I have not.


Here's the blurb from Wikipedia: The series revolves around the character of Phil Coulson, with Clark Gregg reprising his role from the film series, and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, who must deal with various unusual cases and enemies, including Hydra and the Inhumans.

And the premise, also from Wiki:

The first season sees S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson putting together a small team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to handle strange new cases. They investigate Project Centipede and its leader, "The Clairvoyant", eventually uncovering that the organization is backed by Hydra, which has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. In the second season, following the destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D., now-Director Coulson and his team look to restore trust from the government and public while dealing with Hydra, a faction of anti-superhuman S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and the newly revealed Inhumans (who possess special abilities).

During the third season, Coulson begins a secret mission to assemble the Secret Warriors, a team of Inhumans, as Hydra restores its ancient Inhuman leader Hive to power.[8] After the defeat of Hive and with Hydra destroyed, S.H.I.E.L.D. is made a legitimate organization once again for the fourth season, with the signing of the Sokovia Accords. Coulson returns to being a field agent, due to the world believing he is dead, and is tasked with tracking down more enhanced people–including Robbie Reyes / Ghost Rider–while Agent Leo Fitz and Dr. Holden Radcliffe complete their work on Life Model Decoys.

I haven't been overly impressed so far, although, maybe because it's based on Marvel comics, I need to adjust my expectations. I do like Clark Gregg and Ming-na Wen, and the hunky dude is definitely nice to look at. DH says it gets better. But it's part of the time DH spend together, so it doesn't matter much what we watch.

So any Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. watchers out there? Do you like it? Hate it?

Posted by at 1 comment:
Labels: , , , ,

Monday, July 25, 2016

Movie Monday -- Star Trek Beyond



Yesterday, DH and I went to see Star Trek Beyond, the third installment of the Star Trek film reboot.

I've been waiting three years for it, and it was filled with just as much awesome as I'd hoped and expected. The theater we were in vibrated and shook in concert with the action on the screen and we had recliner seats. Overall, an awesome movie experience.

Except I remember one of the reasons I hate going to the movies, aside from the expense--the wrapper/eating noise of the people sitting around me. The guy to my right was crunching popcorn in my ear. During the noisy/action-filled scenes, I can deal, but when the scenes are quiet--have a little courtesy and stop eating. I finally had to switch seat with DH, and he thought maybe the guy has special needs. So okay, I get that. He gets to enjoy the film too. That just means I need to not go to movies on opening weekend when the theaters are packed even on Sunday mornings at 10:30!!

So about the film...

Two years into the five-year mission, the Enterprise visits the star base Yorktown for some repairs and much needed R&R. The grind of space has taken it's toll on Kirk and he's ready to put down some roots. After young Spock receives  news of elder Spock's death he feels like he should return to New Vulcan and help rebuild his species.

But first--one "last" mission for them both. They think they're going on a rescue mission, but instead they're lured into a trap. Of course. :) Two hours later, they've saved Starbase Yorktown. Kirk has realized there's no where he'd rather be than on his star ship and Spock understands his place is in the Federation.

Lots of action and lots of humor filled the third installment, but there was a level of sadness too. Leonard Nimoy, who played the original Spock and who had guest appearances in the first two reboots died during pre-production.


And tragically, Anton Yelchin, who played the young Chekov of the reboots, was killed in a freak car accident a mere month ago.


May the both rest is peace.

If you're a Star Trek reboot fan, I definitely recommend you see this and see it in a theater. I def give it 10 stars!

Have you seen it? What did you think??


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Monday, May 9, 2016

Movie Monday: The Danish Girl


Yesterday I watched The Danish Girl, a film about the first attempt of a sex change operation back in the late 1920s. Artist Einar Wegener always knew he was different--knew he was a woman on the inside from the time he was small apparently. It wasn't until his artist wife asked for him to fill in for a female subject that things came to a head. And although there were some rough patches as Gerda lost her husband emotionally and in a gender sense as Einar spent more and more time as his alter ego Lili Elbe, Gerda loved him enough to support him as he made the decision to pursue the operation.


I'm giving the movie a seven as I really struggled with Einar/Lili's face. It seemed to be the camera focus for a lot of scenes and, while I get that any male actor was going to have a hard time looking like a woman, Eddie's feminine face struck me as just off somehow. That's not to malign his portrayal at all. And for all we know, it was done on purpose. It just didn't work that well for me. Both lead actors did a great job with the emotional aspects and I really felt Gerda's pain as she loved enough to let her husband do what he had to do and be who he had to be.

Have you seen The Danish Girl? What did you think?


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Monday, March 28, 2016

Movie Monday


So I finally saw Spectre, the most recent James Bond movie. I had originally thought to see it in the theater and never did and so I had to wait for it to come out on DVD.


The short plot write-up is this: The story sees Bond pitted against the global criminal organization Spectre as he attempts to thwart their plan to hijack a global surveillance network.

I watched this film more for Daniel Craig as Bond than for the actual story line. I'd heard it garnered mixed reviews and I'll admit that I didn't enjoy it as much I enjoyed (Craig's) Casino Royale or Skyfall. It was too long and too slow in places.

I also wanted to see Andrew Scott. His BBC Sherlock Moriarty has brought him some larger, juicier roles--and this was one of them. Andrew plays creepy really well, and I have a hard time evaluating his work because I hate creepy. So I guess he's good. Anyway, he plays a bad guy in Spectre and does a good job, although I was a bit put off by his age in regards to the job he held in the movie. I just felt that someone holding that position should have been a bit older.

Are you a Bond fan? Who's your favorite Bond?



Posted by at 2 comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Monday, August 24, 2015

Movie Monday


My latest movie find is called WEEKEND, a British made film of two men finding each other and spending the weekend together right before one of them leaves for two years in America. Warning: The film does have some nudity and a fairly explicit love scene.


During the course of the weekend these two men make a connection and find it hard to say goodbye once their time together comes to an end, though their final interaction leaves us believing that it isn't the end of their friendship.

I really enjoyed this film. If you've seen it, what did you think?



Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Monday, August 3, 2015

Movie Monday


No, this isn't about a movie I've never seen before though I've watched plenty of late, but a Facebook friend asked people to name some movies they;ve watched more than five times and that have never lost their charm. It seemed like a good blog topic, so here we are.

In the order of most watched to least watched:

1) Star Trek (the 2009 reboot) - I saw it three times in the theater and then well over a hundred fifty times once I got the DVD. Why? I have no idea. Part of the watching was grief. My dad had died about the same time the DVD came out and so watching was one of my coping mechanisms. Every day for almost four months. Not that I necessarily watched the whole thing. I'd watch, then pause when I was ready to stop, then hit play the next day or the next when I was ready to watch again. When the movie was over, I'd start it again. And even after all that, I still love it.


2) Top Gun - I watched this over and over back when my oldest was itty bitty. Not sure what struck me about this movie, but I've seen it well over one hundred times as well.


3) Dirty Dancing - Back in the day, after Top Gun, this movie was a close second for re-watching. Re-watch count has probably not crested one hundred, but well over fifty for sure.


4) Star Trek Into Darkness, the second of the reboots -  I don't love it quite as much as the other, nor have I watched it quite as much as the films that come before it, but it's Star Trek and my celebrity crush Benedict Cumberbatch is a huge draw for me.


5) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, book/film no. six of the franchise -  Mostly because of the Harry/Ginny romance, so sue me. Ya'll know by know I'm a romance junkie. :)


What about you? What films never get old for you?


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Friday, June 5, 2015

Movie Monday...er...Film Friday??


Yeah, I watched the movie Pride the other day. It was really good. It takes place in the mid-80s during the coal miner's strike in Great Britain. So basically a group of gays and lesbians decide to support the coal miners by collecting money.


So basically I came across this as one of the actors of Sherlock has a role in it, so...I watched it, and you know, it was really good and it was funny. There are some poignant moments as well.

From Wikipedia: Based on a true story, the film depicts a group of lesbian and gay activists who raised money to help families affected by the British miners' strike in 1984, at the outset of what would become the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners campaign.The National Union of Mineworkers was reluctant to accept the group's support due to the union's public relations' worries about being openly associated with a gay group, so the activists instead decided to take their donations directly to Onllwyn, a small mining village in Wales, resulting in an alliance between the two communities. The alliance was unlike any seen before but was successful.

I'd only seen Imelda Staunton as Umbridge in the Harry Potter films and she was an evil character. In this movie she's a good guy, so that was nice to see a different side to her acting.

I give it a movie rating of 8.

Have you seen it? What did you think?
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Monday, January 12, 2015

Potpourri...


There are places with lower temperatures and snow and ice, so I really shouldn't complain, but... I'm sick of the cold. Even just a ten degree increase would be welcome!

I wanted to work in the back yard this weekend, but it was too cold and then wet to brave it. Had it been sunny, I might have attempted some raking, but alas, yard work will have to wait a couple more weekends. I haven't forgotten that I need specifics for the year, but until I can go out and assess the yard, I can't.

Cold temps and rain aside, it was a good weekend. I got a lot accomplished and a couple of my goals for the year are looking bright.

I spent several hours Saturday morning working on my proofreading info located on the blog. I decided what I was willing to do and not do, revamped the verbiage accordingly, and thought up monthly specials to entice new business. Then I updated my website as well so all information and pricing and specials are the same across the board. I also have a couple of jobs lined up, with another prospect (a series bible) in discussion. Needless to say, I'm excited about the opportunities. I've just remembered that I need to go post some free ads to generate some February jobs...making a note...

On another goal note, I have read 19% of my 3 million words and we're only 4% into the year!

Last topic for the day...a movie! DH and I went and saw The Imitation Game starring Benedict Cumberbatch on Sunday morning/afternoon. I loved it and DH enjoyed it as well. The film is about Alan Turing whose mathematical genius was directly responsible for cracking the Enigma machine and helping shorten WWII by more than two years and saving over 14 million lives. I give it two thumbs up and a ten on the rating scale, but for no logical reason other than I love Ben, thought he did a brilliant job, and the fact that I love that historical time period. However, the film is up for and has already won many, many awards, so it's really not just me.



If you've seen it, what did you think?

P.S. I posted this before I'd gone outside this morning and what do I find--warmer temps. Hopefully they'll stay in this vicinity for a while.


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Monday, December 15, 2014

Movie Monday


Last week, I watched yet another uplifting sports movie called The Mighty Macs.

It was about a small all-girls Catholic college basketball team who came from behind to win the national title. Ultimately, their success was instrumental in saving the college from being closed.






Apparently the film was too formulaic for a lot of critics, but if you're not looking for anything especially deep or angsty, it's a good film to watch while working on a craft or baking cookies or wrapping presents.

Anyone seen this??


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Monday, November 24, 2014

Movie Monday - The Gabby Douglas Story


Well, the Gabby Douglas story is similarly uplifting as most sorts stories are. Despite humble beginnings, Gabby Douglas became the first American gymnast to win gold in both the individual all-around and team competitions at the same Olympics as well as being the only American all-around champion to win multiple gold medals.


Anyway, it was well-worth the time on a rainy Saturday afternoon, very emotional and uplifting so I give it a nine rating. I personally don't remember these particular Olympics--of course without regular TV, it's hard to keep up and watch one time events.

Do you remember these Olympics? Do you remember Gabby's triumph?



Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Monday, September 29, 2014

Spectcular Movie Monday


Movie Monday's are supposed to be for films I've never seen before, but this is a special exception.

Yesterday, I saw Gone With the Wind on the big screen!

(The original pre-release poster. Used via the Wiki-commons license.)

In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the movie's original preview on September 9, 1939 in Riverside, California by the producer, David Selznick, his wife, an investor, and the film editor Hal Kern the movie is being shown in select theaters across the nation this week. The movie officially premiered in Atlanta at Loew's Grand Theater on December 15th of the same year.

Now, I've read the book and seen the movie (on a TV screen) at least a half dozen times each, and the opportunity to see it in a movie theater on a huge screen in wonderful re-mastered color was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I gratefully tagged along with a friend and her  family (thanks, Lara) rather than view it alone, though I would have and enjoyed the whole thing tremendously anyway.

What about you? Have you read the book or seen the film? Do you agree it's a classic film?
Posted by at 2 comments:
Labels: , , ,

Monday, July 21, 2014

Movie Monday


Last week I watched a five-hour mini-series called Parade's End starring the wonderful, baritone-voiced Benedict Cumberbatch of Star Trek and Sherlock fame. He actually starred in this film prior to becoming the huge celebrity he is now.

The film is based on a tetralogy of books of the same name written by Ford Madox Ford....the basic tale is of a man, Christopher Tietjans, forced to marry a woman he doesn't love as she's carrying a child who may or may not be his as he considers himself one of the last true gentleman. On top of that, he falls for a young suffragette (the books/movie take place just prior to and during the first World War) but despite popular belief, their relationship remains physically and, for the most part, emotionally chaste.


The movie is slow moving and does not really address the Great War except as the backdrop for most of the story. I think you really have to be a fan of Mr. Cumberbatch's or enjoy British character dramas to want to sit through this. I mostly enjoyed it, then proceeded to download the book to see how it compared. As of this post, I'm nowhere near finished, but so far most of the book's events as well as key dialogue made it into the film. The hero is not as sympathetic in the book as he is in the film, although there were parts in the film where he wasn't very sympathetic either.

So has anyone happened to have seen this mini-series? What did you think?


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Monday, July 14, 2014

(dragging out) Movie Monday!


This past Friday, my kids and I watched The Monuments Men--


The film is loosely based on the book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel. It's the story about how a group of seven men, most past their fighting prime, stepped into World War II in order to find, save, and preserve the art, both famous and personal, from Hitler and/or destruction. Pieces such as the Madonna and Child by Michelangelo and the Van Eyck altarpiece were but two of the most famous pieces looted by the Germans.

On the whole I found the move touching and the story itself amazing.

I thought the ending lacked enough edge-of-your-seat buildup even though I knew how it was going to end. I wish they'd have upped the tension factor just a bit. But the movie is well worth the time as is the story-- a great reminder of such a terrible black mark in our world history.

One of the characters said, "You can wipe out a generation of people. You can burn their homes to the ground, and somehow they'll still come back. But if you destroy their achievements, and their history, then it's like they never existed."

I completely agree.

Have you seen this movie? What did you think?
Posted by at 1 comment:
Labels: , ,

Friday, November 15, 2013

Movie Madness


I haven't taken time to sit and watch (much) TV or movies of late. There was just a lot going on and always something that needed my attention. But this past Tuesday I just wanted to watch something--to fill my creative well with someone else's imagination.

We ended up watching The Lorax movie. Mostly because it was the shorter of the two options we were debating.


The Lorax is the tale of a creature, the Lorax, who speaks for the trees since they have no tongue. A stranger come to a beautiful valley full of truffula trees and begins chopping them down to create a Thneed--a multipurpose item that everyone needs.The factory stats spewing wast into the valley and eventually the indigenous creatures have to leave and then of course, eventually, all the trees are cut down and gone.

I did not enjoy this movie at all. It took what was, to me, a fun easy tale--all ecological fable-istic relevance aside--and turned it into some crazy stupid corny hokey animated musical. In order to make it long enough for a movie they also had to add a sub-plot, which was fine, but the rest--just dumb dumb dumb. I give the 2011 movie a one on the movie reel scale.

I remember the TV special from my childhood with much fondness. Wouldn't it be nice if they'd just started re-airing that annually instead???



Do you remember the original Lorax tale, either book or TV special?


Posted by at 1 comment:
Labels: , , ,

Monday, July 22, 2013

Movie Monday


Ended up watching Lawless several weeks ago, a film based on the book The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant, which follows the lives of his forbears during the time of Prohibition in the United States.



The movie is dark and brutal, but compelling. For the whole story, go here.

I rate it seven movie reels out of ten.

Have you seen it? What did you think?

Posted by at 1 comment:
Labels: , , , , , ,

Monday, June 24, 2013

Movie Monday


My latest new movie watched was Silver Linings Playbook, a romantic comedy, starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert De Niro.



The movie is about a man, Pat, recently released from a mental hospital and determined to win back his estranged wife. Except finding his wife in the shower with another man while their wedding song played on a CD was what triggered his breakdown and subsequent diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder in the first place.

He meets Tiffany at a friend's dinner party and they become friends, of sorts. Tiffany suffers from her own issues, being recently widowed and then fired from her job.

In exchange for delivering a letter to Pat's estranged wife, Tiffany coerces Pat to dance with her in a local competition. He has no choice but to agree--he's that determined to get his wife back--and over the course of learning and practicing the dance routine, Pat and Tiffany fall in love.

This was a slow moving film and I was not prepared to like it much, but it was a lot of fun and, believe it or not, there was no sex in, nor were we ever led to believe that Pat and Tiffany had sex off screen. It was just a sweet little slightly wacky love story.

I liked it so much, I give it nine movie reels and I think I need to get a copy of it for myself.

If you haven't seen this, it's well worth the time.



Posted by at 4 comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Monday, June 10, 2013

Movie Monday


So do documentaries count as movies?

Well, I think they should, so without further ado...


I recently watched The Captains, filmed and narrated by William Shatner. He interviewed all the actors, sort of including himself, who've played Star Trek captains--six in all:

William Shatner as the original James T. Kirk in the original series as well as most of the feature films
Sir Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, captain of ST: The Next Generation
Avery Brooks as Benjamin Sisko, captain of ST: Deep Space Nine
Kate Mulgrew as Katherine Janeway, captain of ST: Voyager
Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer, captain of ST: Enterprise
and
Chris Pine as James T. Kirk in the rebooted Star Trek film

For more info, go to the Wiki page.

It seemed a bit cheesy at first, but it was also interesting to get to know these actors on a more personal level. Unfortunately, not as much time was spent with Chris Pine as I would have liked... I'd started out rather ambivalent toward Chris, but after the interview, I developed a new appreciation for him as an actor. I'm still not overly fond of Kirk, no matter the actor, however.

My favorite captain has always been Benjamin Sisko from DS9, but after the interview, while impressed with his accomplishments, I was less than impressed with Avery Brooks the man. He just seemed airy fairy to me.

Kate Mulgrew, bless her heart, worked 12, 16, 20 hour days while raising two children on her own. Yikes!

Overall, I found it to be a worthy investment of my time.

Are you a Trekkie?

Who's your favorite captain??

Posted by at 4 comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)