Oliver Twist - DVD

Oliver Twist - DVD (2005)

It wasn't til I started watching, that I realized I was getting Oliver Twist and Great Expectations muddled up, and that in fact I knew very little of the story. Alas, Dickens was not taught to us in school, and short of bad productions of A Christmas Carol, and several attempts at reading the novels, my experience of the great English novels is somewhat limited.

I loved the sumptuous griminess of this Victorian tale. An orphaned boy who is honest and kind and in the end is rewarded with love and a good life, after several mean and horrid adults treat him poorly. It is the kind of thing I would like to show to many of the spoilt and rude 10 year olds around the place, but know that it would be wasted on them, and they would not see how lucky they are.

All I can say is that I am glad to have lived in London in 1995, and not in 1850ish, in they type of accommodation on show. Roman Polanski, you did a good job - I truly believed in your muddy streets, run down hovels, rich mans house and twisted corridors and I shall reward you with a 4/5.

A Single Man

A Single Man (2010)

Twas a wild day in the city, full of the rainiest rain we had had in a long time. I went and met several of my school friends, and their families. The men charcoaled the meat on the BBQ, under shelter of course while the women toiled making salads and breads, and the kids lounged about with the playstation. It was a lovely night, but because there were seven kids who needed to head to bed the evening finished early.

So a friend and I ventured to one of the little suburban movie theatres, where there are only 16 2 seater couches and watched A Single Man. Which was sweet, and beautiful, but I think over hyped. The story and visuals were good, the performances by Colin Firth, Julienne Moore and others were all spot on, it just felt all a bit vacant, with too many earnest speeches and black and white memories.

3/5 for this 1960s drama, and we loved all the lamps in the movie, but couldn't agree about living in the wood/window house.

The Italian Wedding - Nicky Pellegrino

The Italian Wedding - Nicky Pellegrino (2009)

After all that thriller action, I felt I could do with something a bit girly without it being too chick lit. You know, how confessions of shopoholic falls on the bottom of the scale and Bridget Jones, the book not the movie falls at the top end. This one falls somewhat heading up towards the Bridget end. Meaning it was girly and romantic, without being over the top and the lead character was a smart girl, and not in love with her handsome (but dumb) boss/servant/carpenter etc...

Pieta is busy helping design wedding dresses for a famous London designer, but dreaming of making her own hip designs. Meanwhile, her sister is planning her wedding while getting frustrated working in their fathers restaurant. When MrMartennelli is forced to slow down, Pieta gets to spend time with her mother, and finds out how a quiet English girl travels to Rome and falls in love with their Italian father and where the feud between him and his former best friend got started.

This was an easy read, one that didn't tax the brain cells too much, but didn't insult them either. I particularly enjoyed the parents story and will be sure to seek out Nickys latest book. 4/5

The First Rule - Robert Crais

The First Rule - Robert Crais (2010)

A lot of the thrillers I have read lately have been cracking disapointments, with bumbling plots and see through story lines. I picked up the latest Linda Fairstein last night, but couldn't get pulled in and abandoned it after 5 pages, which is a record as normally I will give it a good 50 or so.

Robert Crais, however rarely fails to deliver, his thrillers are fast paced, get to the point action packed books that remind me of the promise that Lee Child started with in his early novels, but fails to deliver in his latest offerings. This book is what Lee Child wanted to write when he grew up and what James Patterson can only dream of.

Joe Pike becomes involved with a series of brutal home invasions when the latest victim is a past retired mercenary colleague, his wife and two young sons. Ultimately set on revenging his death, Pike with the help of Elvis Cole delves into the world of the Serbian thugs who are involved in violent crime, extortion, gun running and prostitution.

Somehow, once I am involved in the story I always picture Bruce Willis with a scowl and a big gun playing Joe Pike. It is one of those books where you can see the movie playing in your head.

So it's a big winter 4/5 from me. Long dark nights tucked up in a warm bed are making me read more. I went to the library today to grab my latest stack, and I have been good and watched little tv, and ploughed my way through 180 pages of my latest book.

Thanks for dropping by!

Angelology - Danielle Trussoni

Angelology - Danielle Trussoni (2010)

It seems you have to be in the love it or hate it camp for this book. I flicked in to Amazon to see what year it was published, and the three reviewers were rather scathing and gave it a 1/5. Me - well I really enjoyed it, and feel it is definitely worth a 5/5. It has been a long time since I have been pleased to curl up in bed and read my book and carried it around in my bag in case I can steal 5 minutes to read it.

Evangaline is a nun who finds some letters between the late Mother superior of the convent and Abigail Rockerfeller, and they confirm the presence of angels in the world. But of course, someone else wants to find out the secrets of the Saint Rose Convent.

Weaving stories of the Nephilim, who are the children of angels and women, they are both on the hunt for mythological artefact's that have been hidden for thousands of years.

Certainly a tale in the similar vein of Dan Brown, I found the weaving of a modern thriller with the ancient tales and theological ideas interesting and it is a book that I will think about for some time.

Music Monday - The Cranberries

Lately I have been annoyed with the radio stations I usually listen to. They pump out the same song over and over, and even though I only usually have the radio on for about forty minutes, 3 mornings a week, it has become tedious and repetitive.

So, I have switched over to a classic hits station, and tonight while making the bed, I switched the radio on. This song came on. I LOVED the Cranberries, and their music was on the hit charts while I lived in London 1993-1995, so the songs got a thrashing. On one trip from London to Scotland, I must have made my friends play the cds over and over, at least forty times, and all while I was probably singing in the back seat. My friends, I am sorry. For my singing, and for not having a bigger cd collection.

So it has been a few years since I played my collection, but I think it is time to dust the covers off and relive my mispent twenties. Ohh, and I did manage to see them in concert, which I have a wee recollection of it being sunny and in the middle of the afternoon, and me singing along and then the cider memories take over, and it's all gone. Damn you strong UK cider.

Bring on the happiness

So, you know that I read The Happiness Project , by Gretchen Rubin last week. Well she contacted me , to guide me to her website and to thank me for reading. I feel honoured and touched that she took the time to do that.

This weekend I did many small things that touched upon making me happy. Some of them were:

• Making a nice Sunday breakfast of a muffin and fresh juice. Putting them on my fave plates and tray and climbing back into bed, with a pile of magazines.
• Making my bed on Saturday night, I put the music on loud and changed the linen to make it look like a bed in a nice magazine shoot.
• Picking out my clothes the night before including underwear, just makes the morning go a bit smoother.
• Cooking a nice Sunday nite dinner with lots of veg
• Buying my fave vanilla candles, perfect for winter evenings

I hope you all did some things to make you happy, to make you smile.

Robin Hood

Robin Hood (2010)

Me, I have a soft spot for Russell Crowe, and giving him a decent haircut, plopping him in tights and boots and sticking him on a horse is all good. Also, he looks all stern and concerned, that just makes you love him more.

The movie was ok, but old lady me and my friends had a bit of difficulty in the cinema, as it was so LOUD!! I am sure my ears are still ringing 3 hours later. There was lots of violent boys fighty bits, which I sure the men folk won't mind seeing. The middle dragged a bit, and the pacing was a bit off, with lots of time spent on some bits, and then other parts seemed rushed and edited out.

Still it has to beat old blow dried Kevin Costner and his dancing forest people. And at least they found a man for a mans role, instead of dragging out a pretty boy young actor for the part. Us old girls, like a real man, even if it was just Gladiator in the forest.

3/5

So Much For That - Lionel Shriver

So Much For That - Lionel Shriver (2010)

I may be one of the few readers that was underwhelmed with her most famous novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin. I found it long winded and ending up skipping pages, which may not have helped me understand the story better.

I liked the premise of this one, and was quick to order it from the library. Shep has made a million dollars, and is in the process of decamping from his standard life and moving to a remote island where he calculates the money will let him live for the rest of his life. Just as he is about to leave, his wife gets diagnosed with a rare cancer, and the plans change.

That's the gist of the story. It wasn't a cheery read, it became a bit grim, but I did become astonished at the moral and ethical dilemmas posed. What if you didn't have a million bucks in the bank, how on earth would you afford health care? When is enough enough, when do you say I'm not getting any benefits from the treatment?

I liked the ending, I think she had a great idea for a beginning and an end to her story, but the middle just made me depressed. 3/5

Food, Inc - DVD

Food, Inc - DVD (2008)

I tried to entice all of my friends to come and see this one with me, but not being particular fans of the doco genre, it was always going to be a hard sell. I really did try to get to see this at the movies, but I was glad to have watched it on DVD on my couch.

It didn't put me off my dinner, mainly because I was eating a fresh kebab packed full of salad. I was a bit grossed out by the issues surrounding the mega production of meat. The chicken plants where chickens live their whole lives never touching the ground or seeing any sunlight. The cows who are raised not on grass, but in feeding lots , hobbling around in mud and poop. Shocking and somehow so immoral and wrong. I guess they got it right when they say that we have this image in our head of Farmer Brown on the farm in the green grass producing our food, when it is not even being close to the truth about food production.

Most New Zealanders are a bit shocked by folks that eat takeaways all the time and never cook fresh veg or eat fresh fruit. I think most of us here, eat our food made from scratch, with the old meat and fresh veg. Most of my friends grow their own vegetables, and try to buy ethically raised pork (free range and not crate) and chickens (free range also). However, that may be a luxury because we can afford it, but we also choose to vote with our wallets.

If you want to know more about where your food comes from, it is certainly an educational doco to watch. Maybe just do it a while after dinner. 3/5