Get Hard

I should have known better than to watch a Will Ferrell manboy movie. I had Loeb expectations going in, and they were met, i did record it though because I thought I could do with a bit of a laugh. This one is about a rich dude, who is facing going to prison and hires Kevin Hart to prepare him for the realities he will face.

So it was the usual generic storyline, except this one seemed to contain a few too many racist and homophobic jokes for my tastes and fell flato except for a couple of rare moments.  Obviously I am not the intended target audience - but I do wonder who is?  1/5.

Into The Water - Paula Hawkins

I had to stop reading this one.  I wanted to end it at page 50, but percivered until page 200 and it wasn't getting any better, so I finally set it aside.  The multiple viewpoints and shifting time periods made it too hard to follow the story and I failed to connect with any of the characters telling their stories.

I get that they were all connected to the river, a place where women went to end their lives or to be killed.  I could see where the story was heading to but it just dragged for me.  1/5.

From Cradle to Stage - Virginia Grohl

Virginia Grohl is the mother of Nirvana drummer/Foo Fighter frontsman Dave Grohl.  She writes about Dave growing up and her experiences of seeing him play to thousands of fans around the world.  She then gets to meet mothers of other famous musicians and talks to them about their lives, and how their sons or daughters have managed.

While I knew a few of the artists, there were a few I had no idea who they were and I did get a bit bored half way through.  It seems that all musicians growing up were a bit hyper active and not so good at school -  which fits with most musicians I know. 3/5.

Music Monday - Talkin' 'bout a Revolution Cover

I woke up one morning a week or so ago with the Tracy Chapman repeating in my head.  So tonight I had a look on you tube and found this insanely good cover.

Another Middle Aged Lady Night In

It's another night on the couch tonight here in the middle of winter and I felt like watching something to cheer me up.  Wouldn't you know it, but Forrest Gump is on free TV, and as its been a while I thought I would sit down and watch it.

How can it be 23 years since it came out? That blows my mind and my middle aged lady brain has no recollection of when I first saw it, if I went to the cinema or waited until it was on poor peoples tv.  I was living in London at the time, and they were my partying years, so there us plenty I don't remember.

So Tom Hanks looks so young and fit and still seems so perfect in the role. Especially when you know he is such a smart and articulate chap in real life, he brings a sense of wisdom and vulnerability to Forrest.  The movie still holds up now- a modern classic that is easy to watch over and over. I so wish there was more of this smart intelligent comedy around, instead of the dull formulaic fodder that is being pumped out of Hollywood currently (we watched Pitch Perfect 2) last night.

5/5

Middle Aged Lady Night In

Hello to another middle aged lady night in- its cold outside and raining here so it's leggings and sheepskin slippers on and leftover pizza on the couch.   Best of all free television is showing An Officer and a Gentleman. Oh my gosh- young Richard Gere us quite the sight.  I was only 14 when it came out, and it felt like a real grown up movie.  I must have seen it a couple of years later.

So it is nice to have a bit of 80s nostalgia tonight.  Who needs to go out to have fun?

Pecking Order

This was a fundraiser movie I saw tonight.  This small documentry follows a small New Zealand chicken/duck/game bird club as they prepare for the National competition.   There is also dissension in the ranks as the aging guys running the show are wanted out by the younger members.

Amusing to watch even if there was an element of cultural cringe, as Kiwis we all know characters like the ones on the screen.  4/5

The Returning Tide - Liz Fenwick

This is a story about families and finding out the truth about what happened seventy years ago in the second world War to drive two sisters apart.  Now at 90, Ellie is helping her loved grand daughter celebrate her wedding at the family home in Cornwall and she is wondering her sister and her wartime love.

I always like a good second world War story, and this one was enjoyable although the flow between the historical story and the current storyline was a little bit stilted for me.  Still it was filled with lots of strong female characters and windswept Cornwall. 3/5

Music Monday- Sign if the Times - Harry Styles

No I am not a One Direction groupie - I am decades too old for that.  I keep hearing this one and have it stuck in my head.  I think it has only 4 or 5 lines, so is easy for an old girl like me to remember.

Centurion

A winters afternoon meant it wasn't a hard choice to stay home with the heater on.  I feel that I am constantly trying to watch the programmes and movies clogging up my DVR.

So I tackled this one - Centurion, a take of an unlucky Roman in early Britain.  After being captured by the Picts and then meeting up with the famous ninth legion, our hero a tough looking Michael Fassbender spends much of the movie running, looking dirty and cold.

It didn't really hold my attention too much, and I had the middle aged lady feeling that I may have seen all or parts of it in the past.  3/5.

Post Mortems - Carla Valentine

Carla Valentine has written an interesting biography about her career working mainly as a mortuary technician.  If you ever were intrigued about what goes on in the mortuary, then this is the book for you.

Since a young age Carla had an obsession with burials and pet funerals and it is interesting to read about her career working in various departments.  I would worry that doing the same job, that the bodies would haunt my dreams too much.  That it would be too much sadness day in and day out. 4/5

Music Monday - Fading

I keep hearing this song in lots of shops, and on the airplane flight so I looked it up and put it on my playlist.  There doesn't appear to be a video - just the music.

Carpool Karaoke- Ed Sheeran

I watched this tonight.  Ed Sheeran is so good.  He tours here next year and I was disappointed and unable to get tickets to see him.  Still at least I get to watch him here.

Orange Blossom Days - Patricia Scanlan

This is one of those books that I fit I into the gentle lady holiday reads.  We get to meet a group of different characters as they buy new apartments in a southern seaside town in Spain.  As the years go on we learn more about their relationships and families.

I did like this read, and with the grey skies of winter here I loved reading about the warm temperatures and sunshine. 4/5

Travel Man

Choice tv here in kiwi land has a few little shows that make me smile.  Tonight was Travel Man.  Richard Ayoade is a British comedian, who travels with a different actor/comedian to a foreign city and they spend 48hrs exploring.

Tonight was a double episode with 48 hours in Budapest and also St Petersburg.

Dirty Dancing Fail

Is it sad to say that on today's public holiday I was content to stay home after having a busy week.  I also saw that Dirty Dancing was on the tele at lunchtime, so I  did my chores in the morning, made lunch and got ready to camp on the couch.

I was just a simple 18 year old when Dirty Dancing came out and went along with a  bestie to see it.  She may have noticed a tear in my eye as the credits rolled. Since then I have seen it several times, although I think it may have been ten years since I have watched it again.

What was this though - not the original 1987 version, but a 2017 remake - oh no!!!  I did watch a bit if it and it was quite the disappointment.   It was like a high school reinterpretation of the original.  The words and actions there but no magic.   Abigail Breslin was not the right choice to play Baby.  Although she may have been the right age and have had curls in her hair, she seemed  too young and awkward for the role .  The guy who played Johnny also seemed outo of place.  Although he put on the tight pants and got himself a six pack he had none of the swagger, dance skills or natural bad boyness that Patrick Swayze bought to the role.

Awww I am a bit sad as I'do been looking forward to this one.  Still lucky I've got a good book to read.  1/5

The Button Maker's Daughter- Merryn Allingham

In the warmth of May 1914, Elizabeth Summer is taking stock of her options.  After the season in London and two proposals of marriage declined, she is happy to return to the family mansion.  Here she can paint and wander in the gardens with her brother and his young friend from school.

With rumblings of war, a disgruntled uncle and parents who are determined to marry her off Elizabeth senses that change is coming  then she meets Aiden a young architects assistant, who has dreams of heading to Canada.

With echoes if Downton Abbey, I still quite enjoyed the book as the character Elizabeth is likable and seems to want more for herself, a future as an artist and to be free to vote and to marry whoever she wants.  It is hard to imagine how our own lives may have been so different living a century ago and how much for dom we take for granted. 4/5