My picks for entertainment ~ suggested movies, TV shows, music, and books ~ so you can enjoy some quality ME time! (ATTN Korean drama addicts! This blog has lots of K-drama love.)
Do you fancy BBC Masterpiece Contemporary Mystery movies or television series?
The BBC political thriller titled “Page Eight” is about a British intelligence analyst who refuses to compromise his integrity.
What happens to him is what usually happens when civil servants will not budge on their principles and ideals of Right versus Wrong, and their principles and ideals do not line up with their boss, i.e., the chief executive leader who says: I know what is best for our country and I am the one in charge, with the authority!
In his case, Mr. Worricker (the character masterfully played by Bill Nighy) butts heads with the British Prime Minister. He found some real information on page 8 of an intelligence report that points a finger in the direction of the Prime Minister and … Oh dear!
He has to leave his job? No. Rather he chooses that it is time for him to resign from the MI-5 service and move on. To spice up this not “atypical” political thriller plot, he meets a young woman (played by Rachel Weisz) that he has the power to help because of his access to confidential official government secrets. Does he help her? But of course! She helps him as well. In his line of work, it’s really hard to find someone you can trust.
I once worked for the federal government. I understand how a young man like Christopher Boyce who came from a typical middle class white American Catholic family ... could become disillusioned he when comes to the knowledge that his beloved country, the United States of America, is not ... "perfect". After all, that's not what he was taught or raised to believe.
Even though I'm African-American and grew up in segregated neighborhood, I can empathize with how he felt. I was taught the same thing. America is the land of the free, the home of the brave, We're righteous and the other countries should follow our example. Even though I understand Mr. Boyce, I refuse to justify what he did. Ideals or not, HE WAS WRONG!
So America is not "without sin". But can any other country say that they are sinless? You don't like what's happening in America? Stay here and change it!! At least you care. The other country you're selling out to, could care less.
This is a very good movie. I rate it 5 out of 5 stars. The soundtrack gets 10 stars! David Bowie is English but he sang the song "This is Not America", like he was an American
"The Falcon and the Snowman" starred Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn. I think the movie should be incorporated into an orientation training class for all civil servants who work in the law enforcement agencies “ CIA, NSA, ICE, FBI, etc. The movie was intense. Riveting! A favorite word used by official movie critics. The best part of the movie for me is David Bowie and Pat Metheny on the soundtrack. But I digress.The movie is about a young guy (Christopher Boyce, played by Timothy Hutton) who works for the government and learns that "things" are not what they appear to be and feels betrayed by his country. He gets angry about it “ as any red-blooded patriot would - and decides to sells secrets to "The Enemy". He recruits his childhood friend (Daulton Lee, played by Sean Penn) who is a dope head! Long story short. In the end, they both go to prison. There is also a book written about this story as well.
In between, Mr. Lee gets caught and accused of murder. Of course, he didn't commit the murder but that didn't stop the law enforcement authorities who captured him from grilling him, thoroughly interrogating him, and torturing him to get the truth out of him.After all is said and done “ they say "He did!," - he say "He didn't! He's just a tourist, a businessman." - there's a scene where he's about to be released and a man walks in and says something to the effect: "We're going to give you 2 choices." Before the man could tell what the choices were, Mr. Lee (Sean Penn) looks up at the guy, weary, scared, demoralized and says in questioning tone of voice: "Costa Rica?"I CRACKED UP LAUGHING!!I thought to myself: 'Now ain't that sumthin! They done beat the crap about this boy and he is totally weakened and confused, but he still had the clarity of mind to try to negotiate to get sent to Costa Rica!!' :)
Horror films and scary psycho-thrillers about murderers on the loose are not really my idea of fun entertainment. They are not my favorite type of film because of my weak stomach which cannot easily digest blood and gore – fake or real; and bad dreams or nightmares are almost always inevitably a byproduct of watching those movies.
But every once in awhile, particularly if it’s a Friday or Saturday night, a relative or friend might be able to persuade me to watch that kind of movie. But even if I agree to watch the movie, certain allowances must be made.
Allowance Number 1: I am not to be left alone at any time while the movie is showing, except that I can go to the bathroom by myself. LOL.
Allowance Number 2: It is perfectly OK if I “watch” the film all the way through with my eyes closed and just listen to the dialogue. That way there won’t be any gory scenes in my memory for me to fall asleep and dream about.
Allowance Number 3: If I watch the movie trailer and it scares the bejeebers out of me, all bets are off! That’s it! I’m not watching the movie! If watching a movie preview upsets me, there is no way I can watch the movie.
* * *
Here is a movie recommendation. The movie is “Big Bad Wolves”. It’s Israeli-produced and it’s a scary murder mystery suspense thriller! This movie is also described as a black or dark comedy, but I have a problem with movies labeled as such. It’s just one of my pet peeves. Does this plot sound something to make you laugh? It’s a murder mystery wrapped around a horror. The victims are innocent little girls, a killer or killers are on the loose, and you have just got to know if the Big Bad Wolves get caught!
The Saturn Awards are presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, an American organization. “Big Bad Wolves” received the award for Best International Film at the 40th annual ceremony. If that accolade isn’t enough to impress you, then it might interest you to know that Quentin Tarantino called it the ‘Best Film of 2013’.
Anyway! After reading a review that piqued my interest, this movie went on my watch list. The Number 3 allowance has been eliminated since watching the trailer did not overwhelm me with fear and dread. However, because of Number 1 and Number 2, I have to wait for my husband or other relative or friend to be in the mood to watch this mystery with me. I am NOT watching this movie all by myself! LOL. Original source: Virily.com
Priyanka Chopra as a boxer? Get real! No way! Those were my initial thoughts. By the time the movie was over, I was eating my words. PC worked it! She was super awesome playing the role of a real-life female boxer, Mary Kom.
Loyal fans of Priyanka Chopra-Jonas will appreciate this enthusiastic Bollywood movie review of the film about a real-life Indian female boxer called Mary Kom.
Fans of Jake Gyllenhaal and sci-fi movie lovers will enjoy this film. I remember listening to a review by one of the critics that made me laugh. Paraphrasing his words, basically, he said:
“This is a typical storyline. Something devastating or catastrophic is going to happen on earth. And of course, the one who knows what it is, what to do, and tries to warn others is the very person that nobody listens to!!”
This is a lighthearted movie review of a 2004 sci-fi film. Even though it’s 15 years old (as of 2019), it’s still relevant today. Plus! Fans of Jake Gyllenhaal, who want to know what he looked like as a teenager, will love this movie!
What the Official Movie Critics Said
Several official critics had a lot to say about “The Day After Tomorrow”. I remember a review by one of the official critics that made me laugh. Paraphrasing his words, he said:
“This is a typical storyline. Something devastating or catastrophic is going to happen on earth. Of course, there is one person who knows what it is, what to do, and tries to warn others is the very person that nobody listens to!!”
What This Unofficial Movie Reviewer Says
If you believe in climate change, you’ll understand the storyline. What’s going to happen is there is going to be a drastic change in the weather and there will be freezing cold temperatures. Cold enough that people will die. If you believe in cryogenics, people won’t die. They’ll be instantly frozen. They can be thawed out later.
Watched this movie and don’t want to spoil it for those who may not have seen it. (Although you might guess The End through the “hints” woven in between the lines of this discussion.)
Most Memorable Movie Scene
For me, there was only one memorable scene in the movie; a scene worth remembering because I love libraries.
In this scene, there is a group of people in a room in a library. It’s getting really cold! They have to do something to stay warm and since they’re in a library, they start burning books, grabbing any book within their reach and throwing it in the fireplace. They get ready to grab this one book and the man holding on it to refuses to let it go!
He goes: “You’re not burning this book!” He spills out his various reasons why “The Book” must not be destroyed.
Some debate and try to reason with him. Others are about to physically struggle to take the book away from him. Someone yells out that they have found an alternative set of books. No doubt every American would love to burn them! This is not one book. It is a set and has volumes upon volumes upon volumes. The group consensus is: “Yeah! Let’s burn those!!”
To me, that scene was totally hilarious fiction. The scene was also realistic. You could almost visualize that scenario actually happening in real life. If you’re an American taxpayer, you know you’ve thought of burning the U.S. Tax Code.
My Unofficial Movie Rating? 3.5 out of 5 stars and I’m being generous.
“There Will Be Blood” (2007) is a movie starring Daniel Day-Lewis. He won an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.
If you are a fan, then you will love the actor but you will hate the character he played. Oh my! What a horrible awful awful man!! You never want to meet someone like that in real life! If you know someone like that then surely you must go in the opposite direction every time it looks like you're going cross paths. If I were keeping a list of movies I hate, this film would be at the top of the list. I HATED THIS MOVIE!!!
If you are a loyal fan of Daniel Day-Lewis (Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis) then you have probably seen this movie. It’s not a recent film. It was released 10+ years ago. The movie is “There Will Be Blood”.
I don’t care for all of the movies where Daniel Day-Lewis is the star, even if he is a “Sir”. But I do know that he always gives 200% whenever he gives a performance.
This film won 2 Oscars. One award was for Best Achievement in Cinematography: Robert Elswit. The other was given to Daniel Day-Lewis for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.
He was good! He played his part well. He was so good that I HATED HIM!!
I HATED THIS MOVIE!!!
If I met any of those people in real life I would run away from them!
I only liked 2 characters: the adopted son (of Daniel Day-Lewis) and the girl he fell in love with.
As for the character played by Daniel Day-Lewis and that preacher he was always butting heads with?
I HATED BOTH OF THEM! I HATED THEIR GUTS!!
So was there blood? If you have not seen the movie, I don’t want to spoil it for but … yeah! Blood was definitely shed.
Sean Fennessey, a writer for The Ringer, a publication that covers sports, pop culture, and tech, provided a succinct description of this film in his movie review:
Never crawl out? Never??
What a relief to know that it was just a movie and not a historical account of real events.
So relax. If you are pursuing the American dream … dream on!
Did you know that sunflowers turn to follow the sun? In Greek mythology, a young nymph fell in love with the sun god Apollo. What do you think the gods did to her? It's a tragic love story. The movie "Sunflower" which stars Sophia Loren is also a tragic love story. Where to Watch.
But the sunflower has more than one love story.
Do you enjoy old movies?Are you also a fan of Sophia Loren? If so, you may have already seen this film, but if you haven't, it comes highly recommended. (That means my husband liked it! ☺) It's a very moving love story about a newly wedded couple. The woman's husband went to war and did not return home. Even though others tell her he is probably dead, she believes her husband is alive and sets out to prove it."In the Soviet Union, Giovanna visits the sunflower fields, where there is supposedly one flower for each fallen Italian soldier, and where the Germans forced the Italians to dig their own mass graves." (Quote Source) That's it! No spoilers. That's all you'll get out of me, except to say that, this movie would make a great addition to your personal video library. Ms. Loren has starred in many movies that just didn't enough publicity or airtime. This is one of them.
Fans of Monica Belluci will likely agree that this was her best film ever! It's the most touching love story about true genuine everlasting love and about how hateful people can be really cruel to an innocent woman who has done them no wrong.
Although Mission Kashmir was released more than 20 years ago, it's still a good movie. If you have not watched it you should add it to your watch list.
This is a quick movie review/recommendation of an Indian film starring some of Bollywood’s finest: Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta, and others. The name of this film is "Mission Kashmir". My alternate title for this movie is “Crayons and a Pink House”.
When Divyansh Pandey picked this topic to write about, he probably did not realize it but he picked a part of the world to write about that is of interest to me. His description of this wonderland is both charming and sad. In one instance, he calls Kashmir the “Switzerland of India” but in the title of his post, he calls this place “The Bleeding Heaven”. Extracted some profound and thought-provoking statements from the short article written by Mr. Pandey:
“Kids are picked up from school by militants and brainwashed to fight against India. For them, Its like ‘Born in Heaven brought up in hell’.”
(NOTE: The site where the article was published was shut down and I have been unable to find an online copy of the content republished elsewhere on the web.)
My interest in Kashmir developed after watching a film that was released in 2000 called “Mission Kashmir”. It was very sobering and there were two sentences or phrases that played over and over in my mind long after the movie had ended.
Movie Quote 1: “Were you dreaming of a pink house?”
Movie Quote 2: “… placing carbines instead of crayons in the hands of innocent children …”
Please bear in mind that my nationality is American, so my perspectives are that of an outsider. For me, the fragile thread of humanity extends all around the world and can so easily be snapped at any point. Kashmir, in my humble opinion, is one of those points.
A great movie! If you have not seen it, you should add it to your watch list.
♦
References:
Pandey, D. (2015, June 15). Kashmir: The bleeding Heaven – Bubblews. Retrieved from: bubblews.com/posts/kashmir-the-bleeding-heaven (Article unpublished.)
Shaikh, Mohammed Uzair. (2016, July 17). Tale of Kashmir: Who is entitled to the ‘bleeding heaven’ –India or Pakistan? – India. Retrieved from http://www.india.com/news/india/tale-of-kashmir-who-is-entitled-to-the-bleeding-heaven-india-or-pakistan-1337197/
If you like crime thrillers, you'll like the movie called "Georgetown" (2019). The name caught my attention because there is Georgetown, Texas, a city near where I live and then there is the Georgetown near Washington, D.C. I used to work in D.C. and it's a lively place. This movie was set in the historic neighborhood of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia (D.C.)
The reviewers at RogerEbert.com gave the film 2 stars and Rotten Tomatoes gave it 3 stars. Not sure why the ratings were so low. High caliber actors were in this film: Vanessa Redgrave, Annette Bening, and Christoph Waltz. I would give 1 star fir each and the another star for the film. That's 4 stars!
I did not realize until The End that it was based on a true story. Yeah. That creep was an idiot and he really did kill his wife.
The real guy's name is Albrecht Muth.
The name of the character in the movie was Ulrich Mott (played by Christoph Waltz).
In April 2014, Albrecht Muth, 49 years old, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced to 50 years in prison for first-degree murder of his wife.
Even though it would not make my top 10 list, it's a good movie for a Friday night.
You know what they say about classic novels? They are the books that everybody has on their book shelf at home, but nobody reads them.☺ This post has a couple of apologies.
FIRST APOLOGY: I apologize to Victor Hugo. I have never read any of his novels. But I do know that they must have been really really good, because a few of Hugo's novels were adapted to film. As an adult I've watched a few of those movies. But as a child I only remember one film based on Victor Hugo's iconic 1831 novel: "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", released in 1939.
WOW! What a movie! Loved that scene where Quasimodo, the hunchback (Charles Laughton), lifts the gypsy girl Esmeralda (Maureen O’Hara) into the air and shouts “Sanctuary! Sanctuary!!” Made quite an impression on my young mind. ☺
SECOND APOLOGY: I have to apologize to those who decided on a remake of this classic which was released in 1997. When this movie was first released I did not watch it because I thought it would not measure up to the 1939 movie I had watched as a child. But one night I was looking for something to watch on YouTube and found it. I was so wrong! This remake is actually quite good. Salma Hayek stars as Esmeralda, the gypsy woman. Mandy Patinkin is Quasimodo; and Richard Harris is Dom Claude Frollo. The supporting actors were excellent; and the scenery was awesome!
Fun Fact:
The filming locations were Budapest, Hungary; Prague, Czech Republic; and Rouen, France.
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What makes it cute and adorable? This young guy needs to find a wife and find one fast before he loses his inheritance so he goes looking for one. How does he choose? Uuhhh ... according to the zodiac? Why not? What's Your Raashee? means What's Your Sign? Who is the fabulous leading actress? Priyanka Chopra-Jonas who plays the part of each female marriage candidate. That's right! 12 different zodiac signs which means she plays 12 different personalities. Why is the soundtrack terrific? Just listen and you'll know WHY. (Music video below.)
Treathyl Fox aka Cmoneyspinner – Home Business Entrepreneur. Think. Dream. Focus. Believe in yourself? Hire yourself! Be your own boss! Do it! Self-employed and loving it! ♦ DISCLOSURE: In compliance with FTC rules and guidelines, be advised that some links shared via this websites might contain affiliate referral links which means commissions might be earned if product sales resulted from your click-through to the vendor’s website.
