Movies watched since the last posting in July

It has been ages since I last posted all the movies we have watched since July of 2022.

You will no doubt see duplicates from previous lists - when I cannot get DVDs from the library, we rewatch our own DVDs.  They are not in any particular order, I don't plan on making any comments. I will note series watched and add a quick comment about them.

Grab yourself a cup of tea, or whatever, as it is a very long list, here goes. 

The Women --- To Catch A Thief --- Finding Forrester 

All That Jazz --- The Book Club --- Last Chance Harvey 

Big Bang Theory seasons 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12

The Visitor --- Millions --- When Harry Met Sally

Callas --- Queens of Mystery season 2

Dead Zone --- Man Of The Year --- Before We Die

Nine Months --- Clockwise --- Charade

Housekeeping --- NCIS season 19

Roxanne --- One Lane Bridge seasons 1,2

Hidden Assets --- Bridget Jones' Diary

The Chelsea Detective season 1

Raising Helen --- Planes, Trains and Automobiles 

The Hundred Foot Journey --- Inkheart

Van Der Valk season 1 --- Draft Day

Yesterday --- Moonstruck --- Little Drummer Girl

Delicious series 1,2 --- The Intern

Man With One Red Shoe

Some of the series I discovered on the Acorn website.

The One Lane Bridge, set in New Zealand, has a supernatural twist to it. 

We really enjoyed The Chelsea Detective series, looking forward to more of this series.

Hidden Assets was interesting - the lead female was one of the singers in the movie "The Commitments".

Van Der Valk is a Dutch/Belguim series, looking forward to more of this series.

Delicious started out really "sappy", however, it was just the first episode that we found that way - another one with a slightly supernatural aspect to it.

So that is a wrap for this year's movies.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and that 2023 will bring us some really GREAT movies.

See you at the movies.

James Bond Movies watched posted 12-20-22

 It has been over 5 months since I lasted posted any of the movies we have watched, so here goes.

Earlier this year, NPR had a program on the "oldest film franchise" in the world ---- that being James Bond.  As it had been years since we had seen some of them, also there were several we had not seen, we decided to watch the entire series, so away we went!

The family behind the James Bond movies, also have another interesting claim, their family is connected to the vegetable Broccoli.  Visit this link to see the story  

James Bond: The Broccoli family behind 007 movies also claim to be behind the vegetable | The Independent

We watched the entire "series" in order so here goes

Dr No

From Russia With Love

Thunderball

Goldfinger

You Only Live Twice

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Diamonds Are Forever

Live and Let Die

The Man With The Golden Gun

The Spy Who Loved Me

Moonraker

For Your Eyes Only

Octopussy

A View To A Kill

Living Daylights

Licensed To Kill

Goldeneye

Tomorrow Never Dies

The World Is Not Enough

Die Another Day

Casino Royale

Quantum Of Solace

Specter

No Time To Die

I had always like Sean Connery, and Roger Moore, the best, however, in rewatching the series, I had an interesting reaction to the Sean and Roger films, they were the most sexist of all.

I had not thought much regarding Daniel Craig, however, that did change in watching the series.  There was just something about the way he carried himself that seemed more interesting. 

Bond, James Bond!

As you can see there are 24 films in the series, so it did take considerable amount of time to go through the series ---- especially since I had to place holds on the DVDs through the library system.  While we waited for some of them to come in, we watched other movies, which will be in a different post.

By the way, the franchise turned 60 years old this year.  I do remember seeing Goldfinger in the theater when it came out, think I was in 10th grade?

Well, over and out.

Enjoy.  See you at the movies!

Thomas Huxley's "A Liberal Education and Where to Find It " 1868

 When I was in the 11th Grade - a bazillion years ago😊- in English Class, Mr. Humphrey had each student memorize, and then recite in front of the class, the following portion of Thomas Huxley's " A Liberal Education and Where to Find It", to bad so few of our nationally elected officials live by it.....

That man, I think, has had a liberal education who has been so trained in youth that his body is the ready servant of his will, and does with ease and pleasure all the work that, as a mechanism, it is capable of; whose intellect is a clear, cold, logic engine, with all its parts of equal strength, and in smooth working order; ready, like a steam engine, to be turned to any kind of work, and spin the gossamers as well as forge the anchors of the mind; whose mind is stored with a knowledge of the great and fundamental truths of Nature and of the laws of her operations; one who, no stunted ascetic, is full of life and fire, but whose passions are trained to come to heel by a vigorous will, the servant of a tender conscience; who has learned to love all beauty, whether of Nature or of art, to hate all vileness, and to respect others as himself. 

If they did, perhaps, just perhaps, our country would be less divided, and more civilized towards one another.  

Movies Recently Watched 7-7-22

 Been almost 2 months since I have posted movies we have watched.

As usual, some are repeats, since the library holds don't always come in a timely manner. The repeats are ones that we own. In no particular order - some will have comments, some will not.  Will make note of ones that we found particularly interesting to watch Special Features.   Special features often are the "director's cut", other times they are just highlighted scenes of interest.  Three films were filmed during the Covid Pandemic, so those might be of interest for you to watch the Special Feature.

Central Station (Brazilian, 1998) photography is stunning👍👍👍👍👍

Quigley Down Under (1990) always enjoy the scene when Quigley faces down the British troops in the corral - very "unearthly". 👍👍👍👍

Madame Blanc Mysteries - filmed on the islands of Gozo and Malta, during the Pandemic, watch the special features 👍👍👍👍👍

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (English version) - kept telling my husband "this is a dark story", well, what can I say?👍

Belfast - loosely based on Kenneth Branagh's childhood in Belfast during the "troubles".  Filmed during the Pandemic, watch the special features.  👍👍👍👍👍

Licorice Pizza - we knew it had been nominated for an Oscar, did not know the background story.  My husband really enjoyed Alana Haim's performance, after watching it I did some research, which was extremely interesting - you can find it on ScreenRant.com.  Also filmed during the Pandemic, watch the Special Features. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Rustler's Rhapsody - great western musical parody. 👍👍👍👍

Confidentially Yours - French film by the late Francois Truffant, his final film 1983.  You have to enjoy black and white films. 👍👍👍👍

Dune - even though it won numerous Oscars, we found it overly long, the music drowned out the dialogue. 👍👍

Hinterland series 3 - continuation of the Welch detective, dark.👍👍👍

Best Defense - can't remember why 👍

Big Bang Theory- seasons 1,2,3,4 👍👍👍👍👍👍

Northern Exposure - Final Season. Apparently NOT available through streaming services👍👍👍👍👍👍

Seems Like Old Times - Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn comedy, seemed a little flat compared to their pairing in Foul Play. 👍👍 

Enchanted April - just a delight 👍👍👍👍👍👍

ABBA Forever The Winner Takes it All - documentary of ABBA. Still LOVE their music. Watch the special features 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Julia : The Delicious Life of America's First Food Icon - documentary of the one and only Julia Child.  Great food scenes.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Last but NOT Least    A Good Year - the one and only Russell Crowe movie that we both enjoy re-watching.  I mean who doesn't enjoy beautiful scenery with a glass of wine.  We have lost count of how many times we have watched this one, but it was the first time we watched the Special Features. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

See you at the movies 👀👀

Movies we have watched recently 5-17-22

 Been a while since I last posted movies recently watched.

Some titles are stand-by favorites, while waiting for holds to come into the library, so there are "re-runs" listed.

Commentary may or may not follow title.

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel  👍👍👍👍

Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel  👍👍👍

Summer of Soul (2022 Oscar winner for best documentary) 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 

Judge John Deed  seasons 3,4,5,6 👍👍👍👍👍there are time when I wish he would use better judgement in his behavior towards women - keep his hands to himself, and quit fooling around!

Northern Exposure  seasons 1,2,3,4,5  👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍  after reading "We Had a Little Real Estate Problem" about Native American comedians, with Elaine Miles being the only Native American woman mentioned in the book, and being involved with N.E., we decided to go back and re-watch the series.  Ironically, since we obviously watched these back in the '90's, neither one of us has remembered one episode!  Have enjoyed them even more, now that I have a different perspective regarding Native Americans in "comedy". 

Summerdahl series 2 👍👍👍👍 Danish mystery series.

Hinterland series 2 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 Welsh series, rather dark at times, but the countryside scenes are top notch. Several of the actors involved have been in other Acorn series we have watched, so it is interesting to see them in different roles.    Currently, we are watching series 3.

Black Panther 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍Wakanda Forever!  LOVE LOVE LOVE the Rhinos!

The Good Year 👍👍👍👍👍👍about the only Russell Crowe movie we watch, and enjoy.

And that's a wrap for this post!

See you at the movies 👀👀

Who Will They Come For Next?

 

“First they came . . .” by Martin Niemoller

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

 — Martin Niemöller

One can only hope that The Supreme Court won't open the flood gates further!  Because there won't be anyone to speak for YOU!

Recently Watched Movies

It's been a really long time since I posted movies recently watched.

Some were watched before the Winter Olympics - which we did watch when the digital antenna was receiving the broadcast.  

And, as usual, there will be some that have been mentioned in previous blog posts ---- when we don't have any DVDs from the library we fall back on our personal collection. 

And, as usual, they are not in any particular order.

Most of the TV Series are ones that I have "found" on Acorn's website.

C.B Strike - Lethal Weapon   English TV series👍👍👍👍

can be "brutal" at times.

Golden Years, Armed & Dangerous   English "comedy"👍👍👍👍

McDonald & Dobbs   English TV series 👍👍👍👍👍👍a mystery series with some comic relief, and wonderful views of a beautiful English LIBRARY  2 seasons  If you have watched Shakespeare and Hathaway, and enjoyed that one, I am pretty sure you will really enjoy this one.

Muscle Shoals 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍   needed to rewatch after we watched   "RESPECT" (Aretha Franklin movie).   

About so many of the BIG names in early ROCK music.

Death in Paradise  Season 10  👍👍👍👍 You should already know about this one.

My Life Is Murder  Season 2  👍👍👍👍👍 mystery series in New Zealand, with comic relief.

Sliding Doors  👍👍👍👍 an early Gweneth Paltrow film, she plays a dual part,  interesting film.

Shopgirl  👍👍👍👍👍👍 2005 film based on Steve Martin's short story,  he stars along with Claire Danes.

Woman Wanted 👍👍 weird one with Kiefer Sutherland, Holly Hunter and Michael Moriarty.

Whitstable Pearl 👍👍👍👍👍 English mystery series, Jim's only complaint, the lead male actor "mumbles" so one has a hard time hearing his dialogue.

Mrs. Doubtfire 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 always enjoy watching Robin's performance in this one.

Cool Runnings 👍👍👍👍👍having just finished watching the bobsled competition of the Olympics, we HAD to rewatch this with John Candy.

Antonia's Line  👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍winner of the 1995 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film.  Dutch film set after WWII.

LunchBox 👍👍👍👍👍Indian film, we had seen this several years ago, saw it back in Sno-Isle's system, only didn't realize we were getting the Indian version with only Spanish subtitles --- it was interesting at any rate!

Green Bicycle (Wadjda) 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍Saudi film, another one we had seen years ago, this one in Arabic, with Spanish subtitles!   Enjoyed it anyway. 

Shirley Valentine 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍one of my favorite comedies featuring Pauline Collins! 

Hinterland season 1  👍👍👍👍👍👍English mystery series

Judge John Deed  seasons 1 & 2👍👍👍👍👍👍👍English "court" mystery series ----- another series we watched years ago, always interesting to rewatch and be able to enjoy again.

Belle Epoque  👍👍👍👍👍👍👍1993 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language film.   One of Penelope Cruz's first films.

Smoke Signals 👍👍👍👍👍👍 Since I just finished reading "We Had a Little Real Estate Problem" by Kliph Nestersoff, regarding Native Americans in comedy, this film is briefly mentioned.   We had seen it when it first came out ---- neither of us remembered it.  After reading Kliph's book, this time I could "see" the comedy in the film.

That's a wrap 

See you at the movies  👀

Voting Rights currently being discussed on the U S Senate Floor 1-18-22

 Currently, we are listening to the U S Senate discussion on the John Lewis Voting Rights bill.

 The Senators from Oregon and Maryland have just mentioned something that I read in the book that I reviewed on Goodreads late last year.  Here is my review

The Voting Booth

by Brandy Colbert (Goodreads Author)

Marva Sheridan was born ready for this day. She's always been driven to make a difference in the world, and what better way than to vote in her first election?

Duke Crenshaw is so done with this election. He just wants to get voting over with so he can prepare for his band's first paying gig tonight. Only problem? Duke can't vote.

When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she takes it upon herself to make sure his vote is counted. She hasn't spent months doorbelling and registering voters just to see someone denied their right. And that's how their whirlwind day begins, rushing from precinct to precinct, cutting school, waiting in endless lines, turned away time and again, trying to do one simple thing: vote. They may have started out as strangers, but as Duke and Marva team up to beat a rigged system (and find Marva's missing cat), it's clear that there's more to their connection than a shared mission for democracy.

Romantic and triumphant, The Voting Booth is proof that you can't sit around waiting for the world to change, but some things are just meant to be. 

This is a teen book well worth reading, its message is

more important today than ever before. 

If you value our democratic form of government, it is 

for you to take a stand.

Movies watched since July 2021 through January 13, 2022

 It's been a really LONG time since I listed any movies we have watched - the Summer Olympics got in the way last summer (2021), and then I just got lazy about posting anything - must have been Covid related malaise 😫   

I retired on Dec 31, 2021 and am ready to pick up where I left off.  Some titles might be repeats, however, there are quite a few new ones. Acorn TV titles are among the most watched in the past several months, with LOTS of series.

Here goes

Broadchurch 👍👍👍👍   David Tennant good cop

Deadwater Fell 👍👍   David Tennant

Unforgotten series 1-4    Nicola Walker is fantastic 👍👍👍👍👍👍

Last Tango in Halifax   entire series   Nicola Walker 👍👍👍👍

Queens of Mystery (watching the 1st season currently) Cozy mystery 👍👍👍👍

Good Year   always a good year with a glass of wine 👍👍👍👍

Bottle Shock   another good year with a glass of wine 👍👍👍👍

Blood of the Vine   get out another glass of wine👍👍👍👍

The Truffle Hunters   who knew hunting for truffles was such a cut-throat industry! 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Striking Out   👍👍👍👍

C. B. Strike 1st season 👍👍👍👍

The Sommerdahl Murders   Danish mystery series   👍👍👍👍👍

Vera Season 10   who doesn't love Vera? 👍👍👍👍👍👍

My Life is Murder   Australian cozy mystery   👍👍👍👍👍👍

Keeping Faith   heavy duty mystery, even though Acorn lists it as a "cozy mystery"👍👍👍👍

Taken Down   VERY heavy-duty mystery   👍👍👍👍👍👍

19-2   Canadian mystery   LOTS of intrigue about leaks in the police department, racial tension, but better than most U.S. police dramas 👍👍👍👍👍👍

The Gulf   another heavy-duty mystery, plot involves memory loss involving police officer's husband murder    👍👍👍👍

Winter   "down-under" murder investigation👍👍👍👍👍👍

RESPECT   authorized movie version of Aretha Franklin's life, with Jennifer Hudson as Aretha.  Incredible!!!!!!  Make sure you watch all the bonus features!  👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍              This led me to place yet another hold on Muscle Shoals

     

And then there are the stand-by favorites

Accidental Tourist

Birdcage

Bringing Down the House

The Holiday

The Family Stone

Sleepless in Seattle

While You Were Sleeping

The Intern

3 Days of the Condor

Polar Express

Trading Places

Sister Act

Hope there is something here that "tickles your fancy"!

Let's hope that things will start to settle down, and we can start getting back to "normal" whatever that may be in the future!

See you at the movies👀

Happy New Year, a Bit late

1-8-22

Happy New Year!   

I know that is has been AGES since I posted anything on my blog ----- well, it has been quite the year (2021)!

Since my last posting, I have retired from Sno-Isle Regional Library system 👏

43 plus years, and all that Covid brought with it, were just the final straw about going any further!  

Just tired of all the folks who think Covid is a joke!

We have watched LOTS of movies since last July, however, I shall post them another time😎