A Time For Everything

 

If you haven't seen this movie--WHY NOT?

I'd been meaning to watch it for forever and just didn't for various and sundry reasons. Then last Saturday, DD and I sat down to watch something and as we were looking for the movie we intended to watch, the card for this movie popped up and I said that first sentence to DD:

"Ive been meaning to watch that and have just never taken the time."

She suggested we watch it instead, which we did and WOW. I was blown away.

What didn't I love about this? Nothing but the racism as befit the period of the movie, but no helping that. Racism was an unfortunate fact of life then as now.

The performances were fabulous.

The three women showcased by the film, Katherine Goble Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), represented a cadre of about thirty to fifty Black women who were labeled "Colored Computers" according to the film. The book featured a fourth human calculator, Christine Darden, but she wasn't featured in the film by name.

The composite character of Al Harrison played by Keven Costner turned out to be a good guy, and John Glenn has always been a class act and Glen Powell did him justice.

Again, if you haven't seen this--what are you waiting for. It's currently streaming on Disney +.

Hope you had a great holiday and I hope you enjoy the upcoming weekend.

Take care!

 

 Aside from Penelope, which is must watch for me while wrapping presents, DD and I also watched:

The Spirit of Christmas, a movie about a young lawyer who finds romance with a ghost that takes the form of a human 12 days before Christmas. When the owner of an old inn dies, the house must be sold, however all the inspectors keep getting run off by a ghost. So lawyer Kate goes to the inn to get to the bottom of things and ends up not only solving the mystery, but falling in love with the ghost.

It's really super cute and I give it a 10!

In Runaway Romance, a reality TV star who thought her romance with her co-star was real, leaves Hollywood after finding her role being diminished both on the show, but more importantly, in real life, and finds herself in Amish country where she must decide between staying in her newfound reality or returning to her old one.

 This one is a little more kitchy, being a more low budget indie film, but still worth the time spent watching. I'll give it a 7.

Christmas Lodge tells the story of  Mary who, during a weekend away with her boyfriend, finds herself at the now run-down lodge where she spent the holidays with her family growing up. She discovers that time and nature may be too much for the owner to overcome and works to find funds for historical renovations to save Christmas Lodge.

A definite 9 if you like sappy Hallmark romances. I did get teary eyed a couple times and maybe it should be a 10, but...sappy, Hallmark-ish romance.

So if you're looking for some fun Christmas romances, here you go.

Hope you had a good week and here's to a productive or relaxing final weekend before Christmas.

Take care.

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??

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.

For someone wanting to be a storyteller, I'm awfully bad about taking in other stories. Not only do I need to take them in, but when I come across one that really touches me, I need to study them. What about them did I like? How did the author, writer/director convey that thing that touched me? Etc., etc., etc....

In an effort to increase my storytelling intake as well as to just be entertained and absorb culture/pop culture, I'm going to watch a movie I've never seen before and share it with you here. I'll only be doing this every other week, so each Monday, following Fort Worth Friday, I'll have some thoughts on a movie.

First up, The Perks of Being a Wallflower starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller. It is based on the critically acclaimed novel of the same name. In 2012, the film was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Film.


It's a quirky and oft-times dark film. The story begins on Charlie's first day of high school sometime in the early 90s. He is friendless since the suicide of his best friend. He has another secret, which he doesn't even know at this point, as his mind has blocked all memories of it. The film follows Charlie through his freshman year as he makes friends with a clique of outcasts (all seniors), falling in love with one of the girls who is as messed up as he is.

At the end of the movie/year, he and Sam finally connect and they begin kissing and start down the path towards having sex. The film doesn't make it clear whether or not they follow through (they don't according to the write-up in Wikipedia), but while the two are making out, if you will, Charlie's repressed memories are finally unlocked. After he says goodbye to Sam as she heads off to Penn State the following morning, the images begin coming at him.

Charlie ends up in a psychiatric facility for several months as the doctor works with him to overcome the emotional/physical trauma he suffered.

The film ends on an upbeat and hopeful note.

I smiled through most of the first third of the film and grew more anxious though the second third and was figuratively biting my nails at the big black moment.

I really, really enjoyed this movie and give it a 10 on my movie reel rating system.

If you've seen it, what did you think? If you haven't, do you think you might based on my description and thoughts?