Stick Horse Cowgirls

Oh, dear me!  My sister has recently put me onto Netflix, and I am so loving it.   Yes, I can get some pretty good, pretty current movie s through Netflix.  And I am a sucker for documentaries of all stripes, so I’ve done quite a bit of learning through those this past week.  But what has really done it for me is the ability to see all my favorite BBC series. I have rewatched all the Upstairs, Downstairs episodes.  I have worked my way through the first series of Downton Abbey , which I had not seen before.  Both of these reawakened my great longing for staff: A parlor maid to keep my house “tidy,” a cook to prepare and serve delicious meals so that I actually have  time to “dress for dinner,” and a butler to iron the creases out of my morning newspaper.  Sigh .  I love this escape. I have gotten two-thirds through the House of Cards trilo gy, and it’s just the best!  I love the smooth evil of Francis Urquhart (so ap...

There are a few movies that draw me into them no matter how many times I have seen them.  Some that come to mind: The Godfather (either of the first two); Ol’ Yeller ; Casablanca .  If any of these happen to be on the tube and I am passing through the room, I will be drawn to watch as long as I can, even if just a few minutes through a scene I recognize. It happened to me again this past weekend.  This time it was Lonesome Dove .  Oh, my.  When this mini-series comes on, I literally become absorbed in the expansive scenery, the exquisite McMurtry dialogue, the phenomenal acting.  Robert Duvall will always be Augustus McCrae for me; Tommy Lee Jones is Woodrow Call.  The rest of the cast is equally superb. This movie moves me emotionally, and I’ve tried to pinpoint why.  It is, in my opinion, the quintessential western saga; it is also quintessentially “American,” the embodiment of our spirit.  The men are men, by golly; and the women...

Last Saturday MIL, Mom and I took ourselves out to the movies!  We splurged on popcorn and settled in, not knowing how wonderful a treat we were in for. We went to see The King’s Speech, and I must say it is one of the most enjoyable movies I have seen in a long time.  It is the true story of King George VI (“Bertie,” the present Queen’s father) and his ascension to the throne of England when his brother abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson.  His reluctance to take the throne was heightened by the fact that he stuttered and the thought of public speaking was an anathema to him.  The story revolves around a self-taught “speech teacher” who helps him and, in the process, becomes his lifelong friend.  See this: This movie is beautifully shot and powerfully acted.  I understand Golden Globes have rightly been bestowed, and I expect to see Oscars. The movie takes you through the beginning of World War II, looming as “Bertie” was straining under being pushed...

Yesterday I told V a work story that made her remember one of our favorite movies: The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio .  But first, here’s my story: My client was sad, alrigh t, but the most accurate description I can think of is “exhausted.”  She was exhausted as in the really tired sense, but she was  also exhausted in that she had pulled out the stops to save her marriage—exhausted all avenues, as it were.  It was not to be, despite her best efforts. Her problem with her professional, graduate-school-educated husband was prescription drugs.  He was hooked, had been to rehab twice and had, unbeknownst to client, drained their entire financial reserves, which were at one time substantial—all gone now.  Husband was now unemployed and just coming out of rehab for the second time (not cheap) thanks to his parents. Both sides of the family gave her emotional support as she made the hard  decision to divorce.  They were about to lose the house an...

This past week the Turner Movie Classics showed 84 Charing Cross Road , and my son and I happened on it shortly after it began. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen this movie, nor do I ever tire of it. My son, his first time around, was enchanted, as well. The acting is superb (Anne Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins, Dame Judi Dench), and the story draws me in like a sponge…and is a true story. Here’s the gist: Helene Hanff, a writer in New York, pre-WWII, goes in search of hard-to-find volumes by writing to a second-hand bookstore in England—at 84 Charing Cross Road. Frank is the manager of the store and, over twenty years of mail orders and written discourse, he and Helene grow to be very close, that friendship circle including his staff as well. As you watch this movie, you watch this little group of friends through the war and you see the events of their lives unfold through letters back and forth across the Atlantic. And the movie itself is so very stylish. Here's a t...

Knowing I would love it, my brother-in-law sent me this link. And, indeed, I enjoyed this trailer immensely. Watch it all the way to the end--I love the final scene!! These few images from this documentary made me think about how we are all so alike and yet our cultures approach things so differently (a baby drinking from a stream??? I love it!!). I cannot wait to see what this film can teach me! I think this comes out in April 2010...I'll be waiting!! C

A couple weeks ago we had a real girlfriends’ night out. My mother, mother-in-law, sister, niece, V and V's two daughters and daughter-in-law (have I left anyone out???) went to see Julie and Julia . I liked the movie because for me it was a “double whammy.” I love blogging and I am a foodie/cook, although not of the Julia Child caliber. Although I enjoyed the humor and the victory of the movie, the most prominent thing I took away from it was the image of Julia’s kitchen with her husband marking a peg board to outline where each and every pot should hang. Man! That image would not leave my mind. My son and I are NOT (let me repeat, NOT) housekeepers. When we put pots away, they are generally “chunked” into the space beneath my range. No careful placing of the pots for us! What that means, of course, is that space turns into a nightmare. Nothing can be found without getting down and digging through pot upon pot, and things topple over and out of the cabinet with alarming ...