Sara reports that this fabulous card was sent to her, and she was thrilled to find it at a holiday pop up in town. So now I get my own copy!
She also reports that the @address on the back of the postcard is not helpful for buying the card. Postcard fail! Thank goodness for that pop up.
Some Freddy Mercury to bring the pro-mask message home.
And this little rejoinder of alternate accommodations to anti-maskers.
George’s Corner bar is on top of it.
Directed by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers
Written by Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers
Not so much a movie that people in middle age should watch if they feel like they are trudging through their life never having found their thing,* but otherwise this movie is an interesting look at personality, passion and the zone. It’s got usual excellent details expected from a Pixar movie.** I also appreciated that the story centered on a middle-aged Black man and his New York City life.***
Cost: Disney+/Hulu bundle ($12.99) (We have this because Matt wanted to watch the Mandalorian)
Where watched: at home
*For them, I worry it will cause a level of anguished tears equal to mine at the conclusion of L’Illusionniste.
**I loved the look of the counselors in the Great Before, plus the fact they were all named Jerry.
***The middle school band scenes felt very familiar.
Animators used footage of several music performers, including jazz composer Jon Batiste, performing as reference for the film’s musical sequences. By capturing MIDI data from the sessions, animators were able to retrace the exact key being played on the piano with each note and create the performances authentically.
(I appreciate this as it bugs me when I can tell the actor isn’t playing the instrument.)
It was Matt’s week to choose the date and he came home with a Lego set for us to put together.
I do love the tidy order and step-by-step of a good Lego set.
Here is the finished product.
I also think it’s fun how the astronaut fits in the cockpit, and the satellite folds and fits into the space ship.
Once we were done, we dissembled the whole shebang, repackaged it, and I dropped it off in a Little Free Library so someone else could enjoy it.
Directed by George Miller
Written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nico Lathouris
If you, like me, held off from watching this 2015 film because you hadn’t seen the other Mad Max movies, worry not because you’ll catch on right away.* What makes this better than a lot of films that try to be like this is that 1) it’s got a great story at its core with a lot of humanity and 2) the inventive set design combined with its never stop never stopping pace means this movie is a sensory treat. Populated with a lot of actors who are known for, you know, acting** and not just being action movie stars this is the one action film you should watch this year.***
Cost: HBOMax monthly fee ($12.99) (We’re still living off our month we signed up for due to WW84.)
Where watched: at home
*It’s an action film, after all, so the nuance is not great.
**Charlize Theron! Tom Hardy! Nicolas Hoult! Zoe Kravitz! Riley Keough!
***Assuming you didn’t watch it back in 2015, like I should have.
Editor Margaret Sixel, is married to director George Miller. When she asked why he thought she should take on this project, as she had never edited an action film before, Miller replied, “Because if a guy did it, it would look like every other action movie.” Sixel’s work paid off; she received an Academy Award for Best Editing.
Also this gem:
The cake-decorating company Wilton makes a decorative “Color Mist” in silver that is meant to be sprayed onto baked goods to give them a silver sheen. Before May 2015, the Amazon listing for this product contained a few pages of reviews only from bakers opining on the quality of the product when used as intended (on cakes). After the release of Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), both the comments section and FAQ on the Amazon listing were filled with comments from users posting as though they were War Boys or Immortan Joe “reviewing” the product that the War Boys spray onto their mouths before going into battle. As of mid-June 2015, there were nineteen pages of Mad Max-related “reviews” of the Wilton product on Amazon.
I wrote my annual letters. There are two sets. For one set, I write a letter reflecting on the year and then write a letter about my hopes for the next year. I get to read the second letter at the end of the year.
The other set asks questions and then is designed to be put away for 10 years before being read. I like that it prompts me to take a picture and include it with the letter.
This is all made possible by electronic calendars. I have a yearly occurring appointment that reminds me not only to do write these letters but also where the document is located on my computer.
Welcome, blurry photo. I did not factor blurry photos into my middle age experience.
More cookbook winnowing! The Enchanted Broccoli Forest Cookbook might have been the first cookbook I ever bought. And the Laurel’s Kitchen Bread Book was instrumental in teaching me how to make a loaf of whole wheat break.
As with the other pile, I’ve grabbed my favorites. Now it’s time to send the cookbooks off to Little Free Libraries in my neighborhood.
(12 movies watched, 1 rewatched)
Rewatched: Emma. The last movie I saw in the theater and the third time I’ve seen this film this year.
December! The month where things were fine! But not amazing!
Click on any linked title to read the full review.
Maybe not so much for the title character.
Maybe just for the opening sequence alone.
Maybe for insight into a legend.
Maybe for the blues at the jail scene.
Maybe to see Jo Ellen Pellman not get overwhelmed by stars.
Maybe because you are having a hard time too.
Maybe for further insight into a different legend.
Maybe for some powerhouse acting.
Maybe for the clothes modeling scene.
Maybe because you love talk-y movies.
Maybe because you like to puzzle things.
★Directed by Christopher Nolan
★Written by Christopher Nolan
I managed to see Tenet in the year 2020, even though for many months that wasn’t a sure thing,* and I can say it’s a quality Christopher Nolan film.** Both John David Washington and Elizabeth Debicki were great additions to the usually-white-and-male Nolan players, and I had fun with swarmy and evil Kenneth Branagh. While I couldn’t tell you precisely what happened, it was a fun ride while I was in it.***
Cost: $1.80 (we were all ready to pay $19.99 for VOD, but I had a look at Redbox while buying New Year’s Eve supplies and lo, it was there.)
Where watched: at home
*Things we contemplated: driving to Salem to watch in a theater there; driving to Washington to watch in a theater there (which turned out not to be feasible because Washington switched their level of open); paying the big bucks to rent out an entire theater (which AMC was doing in the fall).
**I mean, he’s a known quantity by now, so you are either in (I love barely holding on to what the heck is happening!) or out (Jesus, man, just make things a bit more clear!) and I’m in.
***And my head did hurt from concentrating.
The production team purchased and then crashed a real 747 airplane into a hangar. The stunt was all practical effects, with no visual effects or CGI. Director Christopher Nolan had originally planned to use miniatures and set-piece builds; however, while scouting for locations in Victorville, California, the team discovered a massive array of old planes and it became apparent that it would actually be more efficient to buy a real plane of the real size and perform the sequence for real on camera.
I went to Fred Meyer and grabbed ingredients for beer cheese fondue, fondue dipping things, and our favorite kind of ice cream. As a bonus, I stopped by a Redbox kiosk to see if the movie we were planning on watching, Tenet, was available. It was! This means we paid $1.80 for it, rather than the $19.99 we were planning on paying.
The result: beer cheese fondue was delicious and simple to make, Tenet was entertaining, and the ice cream was, as always a cornucopia of chocolate flavors and textures.
