Maree's Movie Night - the director's short cut

 

You know when you come home on a Friday night and you just want something short, fun and stupid but you want to watch a movie?

Right here. This is the one. Actually any of the Bill & Ted movies would work but this is what Netflix suggested so I went with it.

Uh ... something something, music. Something something time travel.

Dave Grohl and Kid Cudi are in it for some reason?

Lower your expectations. Lower than that. Lower. Lower.  There you go. Bill & Ted Face the Music is nothing but a good time. :)

And now, for a complete shift in tone. The Happy Prince was, apparently, a passion project for Rupert Everett. He stars as Oscar Wilde in his last, fading days in Paris.

There are flashbacks to previous times and the narrative of Mr Wilde's incredibly sad fairy story is woven throughout the narrative. There are a couple of surprising cameos from the likes of Colin Firth and Tom Wilkinson, but it's really Everett's film.

Colin Morgan takes on the rather thankless role of Bosie, and manages to restrain himself from chewing the scenery. 

The heart of the movie - for me - was Edwin Thomas as Robbie Ross, a long-time friend of Oscar Wilde's who stuck by him through everything. Definitely worth watching.

I'm trying to show Son of Mine some fun/classic movies he may not have seen.

Today's pick was National Treasure.

Nicolas Cage. The Declaration of Independence. Sean Bean with a bad dye job.

Honestly, what's not to like???

Sunday Post 54; It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 54

 

The Sunday Post - a chance for a catch-up - is hosted by Kimberly, here: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/ and It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn, here: https://thebookdate.wordpress.com/

Last week .... work set the same trap for me it always does, so I had to go to the office.

I also had to take Freya to the vet as she's been drooling a lot, and off her food. 

Vet: "Her heart is beating way faster than it should be. I want to test for hyperthyroidism.

Me, who is ALREADY paying out of pocket for Lily's hyperthyroidism (internally) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Luckily, Freya does not have it, she just has bad teeth which are making her feel unhappy. She already had teeth out about three years ago, but now her back molars have to go. I have tomorrow and Tuesday off work (pre-arranged, nothing to do with cats) so I'll be taking her in for surgery in the morning.

We came fourth at quiz on Wednesday, and I got drafted for a fundraiser quiz on Thursday. They're always for a good cause, but I hate fundraiser quizzes because they take so long and it's a gamble for how well they're organised. This one .... was not. I got dragged into it because a friend was one of the people organising it. I think we came third, but I left early as I had work the next day.

Friday night I completely powered down. I watched TV I think.

Saturday morning Son of Mine and I went to the library, and we re-watched some Good Place, and Golden Girls. Saturday night I went to my friend's as usual. We finished a show, so watched The Happy Prince, a Rupert Everett movie about the last days of Oscar Wilde.

Today Son of Mine and I watched National Treasure and I worked on a couple of blackwork projects I have on the go.

I had to DNF A Curse Dark as Gold - I was struggling with it more than I was enjoying it and life is too short. So now I'm reading Pet by Catherine Chidgey and I think I'm going to re-read an Agatha Christie, as I finished RuPaul's memoir.

How about you? How's your week? What are you reading?

Sunday Post 53; It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 53

 

The Sunday Post - a chance for a catch-up - is hosted by Kimberly, here: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/ and It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn, here: https://thebookdate.wordpress.com/

Let me see... work happened to me again somehow as I was not the lucky winner of the $30 million Lotto powerball at the weekend. I worked yesterday as well, filling in for a workmate who was on holiday. Six day weeks are no fun but the overtime will certainly disappear into bills and Son of Mine's birthday as soon as I blink. He'll be 17 next month, somehow. 

We came third at quiz on Wednesday night, so we're not having the greatest run but at least we placed.

My work bestie who moved away in February was down this week to visit her family and gather more of her stuff so we had a dinner date on Thursday night. It was absolutely the best to see her, but now I miss her even more.

Friday night I watched Bill and Ted Face the Music, which was exactly the 90 minutes of stupid fun I needed.

Today I was feeling a bit ... ehn. I think because of working six days, and Son of Mine had a friend over last night for a sleepover. I just needed to get out on my own for a bit. So I went and bought myself some new pillows and went to the library. It was exactly what I needed. 

I didn't do much this afternoon, some stitching while trying not to fall asleep.

I'm still reading RuPaul's memoir, and A Curse Dark as Gold. My endeavour this week is to make time for more reading and stitching, and less for Instagram reels which are my Achilles heel.

Anyway. How about you? How's your week? What are you reading?

Two reviews

There's a war brewing, between Ankh-Morpork and Klatch, over a patch of land that has risen out of the ocean. 

Sam Vimes just wants to do his job, and go home at the end of his shift.

But - somehow - he gets dragged into the war.

Mr Sir Terry Pratchett had a wonderful knack of highlighting the absolute absurdity of aspects of the human condition. In this case, he turned his laser gaze on the absurdity and tragedy of war.

Jingo is hilarious, while also making some very, very savage points.

The trouble with reading a new-new book, that's the first book in a series, and is very, very good, and was published in January ... there's no book 2 out yet.

The Principle of Moments is a sci-fi/fantasy/historical hybrid of a novel. There's time travel, which I'm not usually a fan of, but it also has one of my absolute favourite tropes, which is found family.

A boy in 1812 in love with a prince, time travels to try and find a cure for the displacement he suffers each time he travels. A girl enslaved on a planet in the distant future finds out she has a destiny she knew nothing about. And an alien discovers the same thing about himself.

This was SO good, and such a satisfying read - I shook the book when I'd finished it to see if the second one would magically fall out.

It did not.

 

Maree's Movie Night - The Marvels

 

I have to admit, I have not kept up with the Marvel multi-verse. 

There's just too much. I haven't watched Ms Marvel, and I'm sure there are others that feed into this, but it didn't really matter.

I went into The Marvels with VERY low expectations, but I ended up enjoying it very much of a lot.

I mean, to me, the plot is something, something, something aliens, but what the movie hinges on is the forming bond between Captain Marvel, Ms Marvel and Captain Monica Rambeau.

They all find out accidentally that they can swap places with each other, and everything just descends into chaos from there. 

Also there are alien kittens. 

Super fun, full of heart and honestly a great watch.

Sunday Post 52; It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 52

 

The Sunday Post - a chance for a catch-up - is hosted by Kimberly, here: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/ and It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is  hosted by Kathryn, here: https://thebookdate.wordpress.com/

It was a short working week due to the Easter break, which was nice. The days off I mean. The other parts ... well let's just say I didn't win Lotto. 

We came fourth at quiz on Wednesday night, which isn't ideal, but it keeps us humble. I GUESS.

Friday night Son of Mine stayed at a friend's place so I merged with my couch and watched The Marvels. Which I enjoyed, I thought it was a fun movie.

Saturday morning, friend and I went to the library, and I went to her place as usual on Saturday night.

Today I was feeling productive somehow, so Son of Mine and I did some baking. We made some chocolate chip cookies, and a lemon loaf. 

I've done some stitching today as well, and that's about it, I think.

I finished Jingo by Terry Pratchett, and The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson.

Now I'm reading The House of Hidden Meanings - RuPaul's memoir, and a book called A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce, which has been on my bookcase for YEARS. 

Every so often I delude myself and try to alternate reading a library book with one I own. It usually goes ... badly, but it doesn't stop me from trying. 

I've also started culling my shelves. I've done one so far. I took a bag into work, and anything that's left from that will be donated.

Anyway. 

How about you? How's your week? What are you reading?

Maree's Movie Night

 

I have a weakness for heist stories. And found family stories.

Often, these two things seem to go together, and that's the case with Lift.

Kevin Hart leads a crew of thieves who specialise in "lifting" works of art to liberate them from private collectors.

After they've "lifted" a Van Gogh, the crew gets tangled up with Interpol, who are trying to bring down an international terrorist who profits off natural disasters.

He's expecting a delivery of $500 million in gold bars, which is where the crew comes in. Because Interpol hires them to steal the gold.

Is the premise ridiculous? Yes. Was I entertained? Also yes. It was fun.

Nicolas Cage as Dracula, and Nicholas Hoult as the hapless Renfield, set in modern-day New York. This movie is not going to win any awards for greatness, but it's the kind of stupid fun that's entertaining for 90 minutes.

Not ideal if you have a weak stomach though, as it is also VERY gory.

Fun, but gory.