Category: Reviews

Master parent category for all my reviews: books, movies, television shows, restaurants, products.

Movie Review: Before We Go (2015) 4 Stars

Before We Go

Release (U.S.) September 2015

Watched (via Netflix streaming) April 2016

Rating: 3.5-4 stars

After a sunset walk along Angel Falls Trail with Terry, Lexy and Porthos, we whipped up some baked hot wings and sat down to find a movie to watch.  First stop Starz On Demand.  We looked at every movie offered and discounting the ones we had already seen, found not a single movie worth watching.  I asked Terry, “We’re paying how much per month for Starz?” Yeah, they got cancelled this morning, despite Dish trying to entice me with a $5/month for 6 months ‘deal.’  I switched to HBO for a special price this morning to see if we’ll get any better movies with the oldest and biggest premium channel in the business.

Next we both checked our Netflix streaming queues.  I also checked movies I’d bought on sale at Google Play and suggested we re-watch the re-make of True Grit.  We held that in reserve until we could find something we hadn’t seen.  Terry found some strange high school comedy/drama from the mid-80s called Lucas that we attempted to watch for 15 minutes but gave up.  I lived through the 80s once.  Once was enough.  I also checked Hoopla (streaming video from local libraries) and my PBS app but came up with nothing promising.  I went back to Netflix and reviewed the drama recommendations.  I don’t normally do dramas because they can be a downer and I really didn’t want to start my weekend off on a sad note.  But the reviews on Netflix for Before We Go were higher than the normal so I decided to take a chance once we ditched Lucas.

I’m glad I did NOT read any of the ‘critics’ reviews of this film as I quite enjoyed it.  Charming and sweet and not bad for the directorial debut of Chris Evans.  A very different view of New York from the eyes of two strangers not on a train.  I liked it because it was different and hopeful.

 

Book Review: American Tumbleweeds by Elva (4 stars)

Excellent book review posted on my uncle’s blog:

Book Review: American Tumbleweeds by Marta Elva Four Stars “Tragedy of condemning children to the consequences of their parents’ deeds.” Compelling and heart breaking. An already-fragile family rips apart in the border-straddling communities of El Paso and Cuidad Juarez, isolating its youngest member at a vulnerable time of her life. Inez’s sad tale of paradise […]

via Book Review: American Tumbleweeds by Marta Elva (Four Stars) — As a Matter of Fancy

Abstract Art Juxtaposed With Muralist Book Discussion

Tour for FYI Book Group Saturday 3/19/2016
FYI book group given tour of relevant art by Nelson-Atkins Curator of Modern Art, Jan Schall, Ph.D.

I received an invitation from Kaite Stover, Director of Reader Services for the Kansas City Public Library, a few weeks ago, asking me if I would like to read The Muralist by B.A. Shapiro (also author of The Art Forger) and attend the discussion to be held at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art on Saturday, March 19th.  I readily agreed because the book sounded interesting and there was the added bonus of a special tour of the Contemporary Art gallery conducted by the curator, Jan Schall, Ph.D. Continue reading “Abstract Art Juxtaposed With Muralist Book Discussion”

In Search Of: An Austen Audiobook

I’m starting a new blog post series today.  I hope to help people navigate the local library’s online catalog and successfully find the items they want to read, listen or watch. For purposes of this blog, I define “Local Library” as the Lansing Community Library, one of the many regional libraries participating in the NExpress regional shared catalog of the Northeast Kansas Library System.

I’m calling this series “In Search Of: ” as a practical guide to finding materials I want to check out.  This series will contain real world examples taken directly from my everyday routine life.  If you have a question, situation or scenario that you struggled with, please post a comment or email me the particulars and I’ll be glad to assist or connect you with the correct library resource personnel.

What I’m Searching For and Why

Today’s conundrum brings us to Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.  Next month, my Local Library’s adult book group will be reading and discussing this classic.  My preferred format for reading these days is to listen to audiobooks from my smartphone through my Bluetooth headset while commuting to work.  My two hour daily commute would otherwise be wasted time when I could have been reading!

The challenge with a book like Sense and Sensibility comes from its classic status.  All libraries will have multiple editions, in print, ebook and audiobook formats.  In this case, there are also videos thrown into the mix because Sense and Sensibility has been adapted for television and film many times.  So, when I first search at the NExpress online catalog, I know my results are going to be many and I will need to filter them down to get to the format I prefer.

NOTE: You should already have a NExpress library card and PIN (issued by your Local Library) and have successfully logged into your NExpress account.  This allows you to place a hold on any item you find in your catalog search results and have it delivered to your Local Library and held at the front desk for your pickup. Continue reading “In Search Of: An Austen Audiobook”

Movie Review: Testament of Youth (4 stars)

Testament of Youth

Released: January 2015

Watched Netflix BluRay: February 2016

Read Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain: January/February 2015

Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:  In 1914, Vera Brittain overcomes the restraints on women of the time to become a student at Somerville College, Oxford. When World War I breaks out, her brother Edward, her fiancé Roland Leighton, and their friends Victor and Geoffrey, are sent to serve at the front lines. Brittain follows their sacrifice, leaving college to join the Voluntary Aid Detachment as a nurse tending the wounded and dying (both British and German) in London, Malta and France.

My Thoughts:

I watched this with my husband on Sunday afternoon, Valentine’s Day.  A less bleak day than Saturday the 13th (overcast and never above 25 degrees).  Today is bright and sunny and in the 50s.  Almost spring like.  I’m beginning to think  I should have watched Testament of Youth yesterday instead of the Water Diviner.  Continue reading “Movie Review: Testament of Youth (4 stars)”

Movie Review: The Water Diviner (4.5 stars)

The Water Diviner

Released: December 2014 (Australia) and April 2015 (America)

Watched Netflix BluRay: February 2016

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:

Four years after the Battle of Gallipoli, Australian farmer Joshua Connor (Russell Crowe) travels to Turkey to find his three sons, who never returned home from the war. When he arrives in Istanbul, he meets others who have also suffered losses: hotelier Ayshe (Olga Kurylenko) and her son, Orhan, who befriends Connor; and Major Hasan (Yilmaz Erdogan), a Turkish officer who fought against Connor’s sons and now may be their father’s only hope in finding closure.

My thoughts:

My husband and I watched this on Saturday afternoon, Valentine’s Day weekend.  I did not expect there to be a touching romance, but was pleasantly surprised to find one midst all the death Joshua persevered through in his search for his sons

Continue reading “Movie Review: The Water Diviner (4.5 stars)”

Vanishing Addendum of DVR Highlights

Continuing in the vein of my previous post, I haven’t completely neglected my DVR this January, although it is my last resort for entertainment (see my reference to inferior HD quality provided by satellite subscription).

This week brought back the formidable Agent Carter who is apparently carrying the investigative torch of the mysterious and ancient society obsessed with the portal stone most recently perplexing the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  This is another series Terry rolls his eyes at.  I accused him of not caring for it because it has such a strong female lead.  He protested that was not the case.  I just love period dramas – the costumes, cars, sets, locations, etc.  Besides, we final met Jarvis’ wife (rumor was last season that she was a figment of Jarvis’ imagination).

I’ve dragged Terry along watching the new Syfy original series The Expanse, based on the SF book series of the same name by James S.A. Corey.  Except for one small quibble, I really enjoyed the first book of that series, Leviathan Wakes, and I do plan to eventually continuing reading the books.  I’m enjoying watching the series because good SF television series are few and far between.

But enough science fiction.  How about some epic fantasy?  Enjoyed Terry Brook’s Shannara books, including the original 1977 Sword of Shannara?  Then tune in to MTV (yes I really did just type those three letters) to feast your eyes upon The Shannara Chronicles, which debuted this month.  I’m three episodes in and pretty much hooked.

That’s it for now.  Can’t remember if anything else is forthcoming that I’m interested in.  If you have a suggestion for a show I should try, please leave a comment.

Oh, and Phase I of my weekend work project completed successfully.  Now we wait … so time to watch another episode of Manhattan.

 

 

 

The Case of the Vanishing January

Today is the 22nd of January and of 2016.  I woke up this morning to a bitter cold Friday, to the prospect of working through most of the weekend.  Not the best way to start your day.  A huge project I’ve been involved with for many many moons is finally rolling out.  So while I’m stressed beyond belief, I’m excited to finally be able to put this project in the completed bin come Monday morning.  Then it’s on to the next “Big Thing,” er, project.

Stressful work-life aside, January wasn’t a complete loss for leisure.  I’ve read a space opera that I liked, listened to an audiobook for a book club that was interesting, read my first graphic novel for another book club and read an ebook novella (click here to see what I’ve read so far this year).  Continue reading “The Case of the Vanishing January”

Recipe Review: Alton Brown’s Lentil Soup (4 stars)

Traditionally, people tend to eat black eyed peas for good luck on New Year’s Day.  I bucked that trend (and to be honest I don’t actually remember ever having eaten black eyed peas) and decided to make, for the very first time, lentil soup.

I’ve had great luck with recipes from Alton Brown’s kitchen so when I found this Lentil Soup one, I decided to give it a try.

All of the ingredients I used were organic, which the exception of the spices.  And speaking of spices, I had to skip the ground Grains of Paradise as I could not find that spice at my local grocers.   I will have to special order that spice for the next time I make this recipe.  And there will be a next time.

This was super (or should I say ‘souper’) easy to make.  And it didn’t take me as long as his recipe stated to prep.  Probably just 15-20 minutes instead of thirty minutes.  I sweated the vegetables a little longer than his recipe stated because I used my new crockpot and not a dutch oven.

Terry and I both had two bowls of the lentil soup for supper.  Very good.  We have enough left over to freeze and/or eat again later this week.

Happy New Year!

Full Moon Merry Christmas

Tomorrow, just after six o’clock in the morning and just as the sun is rising, we’ll experience the first full moon to occur on Christmas Day since 1977.  I wasn’t even in high school yet in 1977 (although my husband was already in college by then).  If you miss opening this Christmas present, you won’t get another chance until 2034 (by which time I should be retired).

Other astronomical items of note this holiday week include:

  • On the 4th day of Christmas (Monday that is), Mercury reaches its peak distance from the sun 30 minutes after sunset in the southwest.
  • On the 5th day of Christmas (Tuesday), Saturn continues its return from behind the Sun.  Look to the southeast in the pre-dawn morning time.
  • On the 6th day of Christmas (Wednesday), look up and south to spy the Seven Sisters (aka as the Pleiades)
  • On the 8th day of Christmas (Happy New Year!), use binoculars to find Comet Catalina rising close to Arcturus (a very bright star) around midnight and continue to rise high in the southeast until dawn twilight.
  • On the 9th day of Christmas (Saturday, January 2, 2016) the Earth reaches its closest point to the Sun (at the start of Winter no less)
  • On the last day of Christmas (Twelfth Night) at 10 p.m. EST, Pluto hides behind the Sun.

Comet Catalina

For more interesting astronomical events and items, please visit Astronomy magazine’s The Sky This Week: December 25, 2015 – January 10, 2016 web page.

May the brightest star guide you in your search for Peace, Love and Joy.

Merry Christmas!