Middle Aged Lady Movie Night - Mollys Game

Middle Aged Lady Movie Night has happened again.  This means the candles are lit, and the dent is made in the sofa and a movie is chosen.  Best of all it is a 99c special on Apple TV,  much better than spending $17 at the cinema.  I am sad and old now, and quite happy to enjoy the movie by myself at home, rather than getting dragged out to see it at the cinema.  As I seem to have the 200 day cough too, I haven't seen a movie at the theatre since July.

Mollys Games is a story about Molly Bloom, who was a promising young skier who has an accident injuring her spine,  finds herself in Los Angeles working as a waitress and an assistant to a guy who organizes Poker games with his friends every week, which he asks her to help run.   She then ends up running high end games with sports stars, actors, rappers and heads of business, taking in lots of money. 

Jessica Chastain is pretty mesmerizing in the lead role, I think she does a stellar job of making a pretty boring topic watchable.  I have no understanding of card games no matter how many times people have explained to me over the years, I have no head for remembering the rules or what cards have been played and gambling has no appeal to me whatsoever.

Then combining card games with law/court stuff makes it even more of a downer for me, two of the most boring combinations that I could think of it.  It is redeemed somewhat by having Idris
Elba as her lawyer,  and the combination of both of them working together made it a 3/5 for me.

Mind That Child - Dr Simon Rowley

I am a bit of a sucker for a medical memoir, and this one comes from NZ Dr Simon Rowley, a Consultant Pediatrician working in Auckland,New Zealand.  This one works well, combining stories about his own upbringing, his education, marriage and role as a father with stories of his patients and families.  He comes across as the type of doctor that we should admire, knowledgeable, sensible and open to learning from the families that he looks after.  4/5

Music Monday - Beneath Your Beautiful - Labrinth

This is one of those songs that I hear lots and always stop to listen when it is playing as it is so beautiful.  We could all use with a bit more beauty in our week -especially on a Monday.

Origin Story - David Christian

                                                                    

This is one of those books that makes me realize that some people are incredibly smart, and in turn makes me aware of how little I understand. Origin Story is indeed the big history of everything as described in the title. It takes us out into space 13.8 billion years ago and describes what happens as the big bang brings our little earth into being, and how the beginnings of our planet and then live itself evolved. 

I have to confess that a lot of it was still over my head, but it was an interesting journey reading about how we came to be and our tiny little space in the universe. 4/5

Always Look On The Bright Side of Life - Eric Idle

Eric Idle is one fifth of the Monty Pythons Flying Circus, a group of comedians that started performing in the 1960s at University and went on to provide the now famous tv series from 1969- 1974.  In his biography we get to learn mainly about his young adult years, writing for other comedians and then his own group.  At the time their style of comedy was original and controversial, but became hugely popular in the UK and through out the world.

After the series finished there came several movies, and it was interesting to read about the development of these, namely Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Life of Brian.  He certainly has led an interesting life, and with a large group of friends being from the entertainment world, his stories are littered with his friendships with George Harrison, Robin Williams, Billy Connolly as well as many others.  He came across as genuine and likable, and I think like all good biographies I enjoy the ones like this, that aren't too long and boring, and  where like Eric they have a huge love for their family. 4/5

Music Monday - Sunshine on Leith - The Proclaimers

I was lucky and got to see the Proclaimers play at a festival in London in the mid nineties.  You can't help but sing along to their songs, even if their accents can be a bit hard to understand at times.  Anyway I have heard they are playing here next year, and I have got my friends organized to join me in seeing them.   I'm excited.

The Love That I Have - James Moloney

This book is the first I have read by this Australian author, who usually writes childrens novels.   Although this one is aimed at adults, it felt like a young adults novel.  It centers around  Margot Baumann, who leaves school to take up her sisters job in the mailroom at a prison in the second world war.  As she collects the letters and reads some of them she realizes that the prisoners are real people with dreams and feelings of love, and one in particular touches her and she seeks out his letters as they are posted.

It was certainly a book written from an original perspective, and Margots story was interesting but I felt at times that it was a little unbelievable.  That she was so naive and unaware of what was going on around her got a little annoying to me.  3/5

A Spark of Light - Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors, and I enjoy most of her books.  This one tackles the subject of abortion and tries to discuss both sides of the argument in a fictional setting, making it a bit of an emotive read.  There are lots of stories presented, from the anti abortion protesters, the clinic doctor, the nurses, patients and police, primarily it is a story about Wren, 15 year old high school student who goes to the clinic with her Aunty Bex to discuss contraception as it is the one clinic in the state that will provide education and support.

All of the stories were compelling, and like most of her books it was easy to get lost in the characters lives.  I struggled though with the structure of the book, as it was written chronologically backwards, which as a tool I could see that it worked by unraveling more of the story as it was told.  I just found it all a bit confusing and this book took me much longer to read than I expected.  3/5

The Mercy

This is a bit of an odd little movie.  It is based on the true story of a weekend sailor Donald Crowhurst who enters a competition in 1968 to win a race to be the first sailor to sail around the world without any stops.  He gets assistance to build an untested boat, and has never sailed out on the ocean before.  After several difficulties early in the race, he stops and records vague readings on his position so that it looks like he is still busy competing.  Then his boat is found abandoned.

I always like Colin Firth, but somehow he looked old, tired and slightly constipated the whole time of this movie.  I guess we are all used to the English movie that is charming and sweet with a happy ending, so I felt a bit let down by this one.  The saving grace I think was that they got the look of the 1960s right, less Austin Powers and more muted palette of 1960s photographs that felt right to me. 2/5

Chocolat

A staycation break gives you the opportunity to laze about and catch up on reading and watching accumulated movies and shows.  My reading ability seems to have lessened, I can't seem to sit and concentrate for hours on end like I used to be able to do.  I can plonk myself in front of the television for hours on end, but find my reading is limited to an hour or so before going to sleep, although often I drop off after 10 minutes or so rather than. 

Chocolat is based on the story of Chocolat, who in the 1880s became popular in Paris as a clown.  Born into slavery in Cuba, he escaped and found fortune and fame appearing in circuses in rural France and Paris.  A beautiful and sensitive portrait, it was mesmerizing to watch the actor Omar Sy perform - there is something so compelling in each scene he is in.  It was a bit shocking to see his treatment by his employers, the police and even his partner.  4/5