Hugo Awards Voting Adventure: Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form) aka Movies

After books, movies are my next ‘go to’ source for hours of uninterrupted entertainment.  If I’m not happy with the book I’m currently reading, I will take an afternoon or evening off from reading to enjoy a good movie.  New or old … it doesn’t matter.  If the story is good, and the acting convincing, and the directing sublime … all else is irrelevant.  Special effects may be indistinguishable from reality today, but if you don’t have a great story, you’re just a flash in a pan that fizzled, smoked and went boom.
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Article: Chromecast turns one: why this small streaming stick became such a big deal

Chromecast turns one: why this small streaming stick became such a big deal

http://gigaom.com/2014/07/24/chromecast-turns-one-why-this-small-streaming-stick-became-such-a-big-deal/

Happy Birthday Chromecast!

Best $35 I ever spent.  I’m looking forward to the updates promised in the article above.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

Everything You Never Knew About The Making Of Last Starfighter

http://io9.com/everything-you-never-knew-about-the-making-of-last-star-1602703884?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

I’ve gone all nostalgic now.  I love this movie.   I should buy it so I can enjoy all these behind the scenes goodies myself.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

Article: Finally, A Way To Find Movies Worth Watching On Netflix

Finally, A Way To Find Movies Worth Watching On Netflix

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/09/finally-a-way-to-find-movies-worth-watching-on-netflix/?ncid=rss

I’ll give this site a try this weekend.  This is exactly why i don’t like Netflix streaming: I am not going to waste my time slogging through the slush pile of Rotten Tomatoes to find that one priceless pearl of a movie to watch.  There’s always a great book waiting on my shelf to read commercial free and quiet.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

When Is It Okay (If Ever) To Fail the Bechdel Test?

http://observationdeck.io9.com/when-is-it-okay-if-ever-to-fail-the-bechdel-test-1586354535?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_twitter&utm_source=io9_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

More observations on failing the Bechdel Test.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

Why The Bechdel Test Is More Important Than You Realize

http://io9.com/why-the-bechdel-test-is-more-important-than-you-realize-1586135613

So much of what I watch or read fails the Bechdel test.  I overlook or forgive some of it.  If not, you’ll hear about it here.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

Movie Review: Parkland (3.5 Stars)

Parkland

3.5 out of 5 stars

Watched BluRay late March 2014

I must be mad (hinting at March Madness) or crazy because all this film did was depress me.  These events predate me by almost ten months.  Not even a glint in my parents’ eyes yet.  I’ve stood on the white “X” on the street where President Kennedy was shot in Dallas.  I’ve walked through the park and stood in the spot where Zapruder captured the assassination on film.  I did not visit Parkland, where both Kennedy and Oswald were declared deceased.  Until this morning, I didn’t even know the name of the hospital nor the doctors and nurses burdened with that triage.

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Movie Review: Gravity (5 Stars)

Gravity

5 out of 5 stars

Watched in theater (October 2013) and at home (March 2014)

This was a great birthday gift last October.  My husband and I saw this movie in theaters last fall.  Absolutely amazing.

Yesterday, we invited my father over for a lazy Sunday afternoon of grilled burgers (yes, we grilled outside in March because it was sunny and in the 60s) and a movie.  He brought home-made carrot cake and Sweeney Todd, but because Terry and I had just seen our daughter perform Mrs. Lovett live a couple of weeks ago in a UNT College of Music production, we passed on watching Johny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.  I had two BluRays from Netflix: Parkland and Riddick, but I asked my dad if he’d seen Gravity yet.  He had not, so I decided to buy it via Google Play Movies (the HD edition was only $20).

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Movie Review: Seven Days in Utopia (2.5 Stars)

Seven Days in Utopia

2.5 out of 5 stars

Watched in February 2014

Synopsis from IMdb: After a disastrous debut on the pro circuit, a young golfer finds himself unexpectedly stranded in Utopia, Texas and welcomed by an eccentric rancher.

My Thoughts: Friday night after a short but long week at work and a wicked day of firefighting on the IT front line at a large law firm, I came home to an enjoyable dinner of tasty tacos with my hubby.  He had scheduled a band practice for the evening (the second one of the week), so I attempted to read, but couldn’t concentrate.  I switch to surfing through my Netflix streaming queue and stumbled across Seven Days in Utopia, seeing that Robert Duvall starred in the movie.  You can rarely go wrong watching Duvall, so I started watching while the band in the basement practiced classic rock covers.

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