Three sentence movie reviews: X-Men: Days of Future Past

A fan of X-Men movies in general,* I thought this was phenomenal, easily the best of the bunch.  While acting was good all around, I particularly found James McAvoy outstanding as the weepy, confused and mostly lost Charles Xavier.  The future/past setting worked for me and the only thing I was sorry about was the early exit of Evan Peters, who stole his scenes from much more experienced actors and also provided the cinema with the best use of a Jim Croce song in decades.

Cost:  $5.00
Where watched:  St. Johns Twin Cinema with Matt**

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/xmen_days_of_future_past_ver5.html

*I even suffered through that Wolverine Origin movie, which is more than I can say for the other resident of the house.
**A.k.a. the guy who isn’t enough of a fan to watch the Wolverine Origin movie.

Three sentence movie reviews: August Osage County

Women getting to dig their teeth into weighty dramatic material and really tear through it in the best way possible!  Yep, I was a fan of this movie!  I particularly loved how every time I thought Meryl Streep had done her dastardly worst to her family, she managed to top herself.

Cost:  free from library thanks to T. who lent it to me after she watched it.
Where watched: at home.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2013/august_osage_county.html

Great Aunt Betty’s memorial gathering.

Here’s Aunt Betty as a younger girl.

Here are the 15 Whitmore children and their parents.  My grandmother, Helen, is third from the left.
(Update!  According to my mother, this was a celebration for my grandmother’s 40th birthday. See her comment below.)  

I love the fact that she still had her War Ration Book (I’ve never seen one before,) but I love even more that she was 4 feet 11 inches and 98 pounds.  I looked up the house address too.  It’s still there.

When you have 15 children, it’s not hard for gatherings to get this big.  My copy is blurry, but I think that’s my grandfather George second from the right, standing next to my Great-Grandmother.  My grandma is in the first standing row, six (!) from the left.  She’s wearing a dark colored dress.

More of the 15.  Not so well composed, as some of them are hidden.

This is a really fabulous photo of Aunt Betty.

As is this.  That’s Aunt Joanne standing next to Aunt Betty. 
(Update!  The problem with having 14 great aunts and uncles is you might have trouble with their names.  Mom says this is Aunt Margaret, not Aunt Joanne.) 

This is a picture of my grandmother and grandfather I’ve never seen before. I particularly love my grandmother’s coat, which I’m willing to bet she made.

A Jantzen Swimsuit!

This is the shirt Aunt Betty is wearing in a really fun photo of (nearly) all the Whitmore girls.  I’ve looked at that picture for years as it’s in my Aunt’s kitchen, so it was funny to see the shirt neatly folded among the memorabilia.

Then I hit gold!  Aunt Betty’s autograph book.  This is from a friend of Aunt Betty’s and I laughed at the saying.

From Uncle Harold.

My grandfather!  I was surprised to see him in this book because it was from 1936 and I didn’t realize he was around then. My grandparents didn’t marry until 1941.

Auntie Bea

Aunt Mary.  (Who is amusingly wicked in her entry)

Aunt Lucretia.

Because Aunt Betty loved ice cream, there was an ice cream shop.

This is Uncle Jack, who was married to Aunt Lucretia (the one from the autograph book).

Aunt Virginia (married to Uncle Harold), Aunt Janet (who was stubbornly looking away from the camera) Aunt Joanne, Aunt Mary.
I waited around until Aunt Janet didn’t notice me taking the picture.

A nice poem about the Whitmore Family.