Middle Aged Mumster Movie Night In - The New Years Eve Edition - The Intern

Its New Years Eve in the city, and the clouds are circling with the promise of heavy rain.  The day was grey and windy, and as I am recovering from night shift hours sleeping is not going so well.  So it was a perfect day to stay home and continue reading books and then take a break after lunch and watch a movie.

I chose The Intern - I had skipped it at the cinema but was glad to find it on special to watch.  You can't beat the $3 ticket price to sit at home on my couch.  The basic premise is that Robert De Niro plays a 70 year old widowed retired businessman who looking for a new challenge, applies to be a senior intern at an internet fashion startup.  His boss is played by Anne Hathaway who is is trying to have it all, being a mom, staying married and running a business.

There was lots to like about this movie, like all Nancy Meyers movies the visuals were lovely with both living in beautiful New York homes.  The main characters were likable and charming and the support cast were funny and sweet, with a few home truths about how men have disappeared lately to be replaced by manboys who dress like 14 year olds, ride skateboards and play video games.  Where it fell down for me yet again was the story.  The first half had charm and humor and then it tried to turn into a drama and I felt it ended a bit abruptly without the story line being resolved.  Maybe it was a setup for a second movie?  3/5

So hope you are all ready for the New Year and relaxing and taking it easy!  Best wishes for 2018!!

Middle Aged Mumster Movie Night In - A Dog's Purpose

Well I'm glad that I didn't go to the cinema to see this one as I intended too.  I would have blubbed away and smeared mascara down my chubby cheeks.  A Dog's Purpose is a story narrated from the dogs perspective.  From a young puppy, who then is reincarnated as another puppy and finds his home with a young boy Ethan - our puppy now called Bailey questions about his purpose in life.  We get to follow his journey, and then as the dogs that follow him.  I've made it all sound a little confusing, but in essence it is a sweet movie about the pet person love, and I even had a few tears on the couch at home.  Luckily the cat didn't see me!!  4/5

The French Cat - Rachael Hale

Aww it is super relaxing to enter Rachel Hales world of lovely French gardens and homes owned by these beautiful French cats.  I loved this style of natural light and settings that makes you want to sell up  and travel round France like her. 4/5

The Durrells of Corfu - Michael Haag

I don't know much about the Durrells except from what I have seen on the fictionalized show that has been on television in recent years.  This little book talks about the family and their real life adventures.  How they left India to settle first in the UK and then to move for a couple of years to Corfu. 

Although interesting to hear the reality of their situation I found I was somewhat slightly irritated by them all, that there seemed to be a few idyllic summers on the Greek island, with an every changing group of people staying at the variety of villas they lived in.  I much prefer the television show where it all looks gold tinted with sweet and funny characters. 3/5

Something Beautiful Happened - Yvette Corporon

Yvette Corporon works in the news in New York, but several years ago wrote a fiction book based loosely on her grandmothers experiences on a small Greek island during the second world war.  70 years ago her Yia-yia and family sheltered a local Jewish tailor and his daughters, risking their own lives as the Germans had promised to kill any locals found harboring Jews.  Yet the whole island kept the secret and helped to protect the family. 

So she decides to find out the truth about the story, and to see if any of the family are still alive. As her search widens she starts to find out what really happened and learns more about the fates of the Jewish tailor and his girls.  While all of this is happening, her own family suffer their own tragedy - testing their faith and beliefs making this story all the more real and relevant. 5/5

Hampstead

As I was home sick, I thought I would be able to manage a couple of hours upright today while I ate my chicken noodle soup.  So I chose this movie, which I had been looking forward to.  In many ways it should have been my cup of tea, delightful London scenes, a cute London flat, Diane Keaton playing Diane Keaton and looking all stylie and cool with her boots, skinny trousers, and cashmere hat and Brendon Gleeson looking all unkempt and cuddly with remarkably ginger eyebrows.  Of course she is the dipsy shop owner who makes friends with the wild man living in the shed on Hampstead heath and they fight against the property developers trying to knock down his dwelling.

Now it could be my fevered mind, but I couldn't really follow the storyline, it all felt a bit muddled to me and although the visuals warmed my heart I didn't finish it thinking I would want to watch it again. 2/5

The River of Consciousness - Oliver Sacks

This is a collection of Oliver Sacks essays bought together at the end of his life.  It covers a variety of areas that interested Oliver Sacks.  A neuroscientist, he was widely read and interested in most fields of science and this little book was a reminder of what an interesting, smart  and witty man he was and how his presence will be missed.  It was interesting to read about how he read old texts and research to learn about phantom limbs, his essay on common memory was fascinating and his admiration for Charles Darwin made me a fan of his fanboy fascination.  3/5

Bad Feminist - Roxane Gay

I really enjoyed Roxane Gays book Hunger about her life, her sexual abuse and what it is to be a big woman in the world.  In this earlier book,  a collection of her essays are bought together which can make it seem a bit rambling as she talks on a variety of topics.

  She is an intelligent woman with and many of the essays were smart and challenging.  It is brutal to read when she writes about a gang rape case where the court is more concerned with the reputation of the boys involved than what happened to the victim.  It was even interesting to read about her adventures in the scrabble world - who knew that  people could retain all of those words and scores in their heads?  This book left less of an impression on me, and I did want to like it more but it didn't quite click with me. 3/5

A Boy in Winter - Rachel Seiffert

In a small village in the Ukraine in 1941, things are about to change as the Germans arrive, changing the lives of five different groups of people.  Forced to make impossible choices, the fear is real and everyone is scrambling to try to save themselves and their families.

Although a short novel I did find the changing narrative a little hard to follow and I could not quite see the characters in my mind. 3/5

Paddington

Oh Paddington, I don't know how I resisted your charms for so long but finally tonight, in need of a pick me up I sat and watched.  Oh so charming and sweet, I wanted to move into the Brown house and make marmalade with you - is that weird?

So even though it is a child's movie - it still held this middle aged ladies attention, although u won't  attend the cinema to see the sequel, I will quietly watch it on the couch at home with home popped popcorn.  4/5.

Want to See - The Shape of Water

Ohhh this looks good.  Sally Hawkins (who played Maudie) is the mute in love with the fishman.  I am so going to see this one at the cinema when it comes out - 18th of January here in NZ.

Alone in Berlin

It was a hot day in the city and rather than brave the crowds, I did the washing and relaxed at home.  Now as the evening cools a little, it was time to watch another 99c special before it disappeared in a couple of days.

  Alone In Berlin is based on a book, which in turn is  based on a real life couple.   In the movie an older married German couple discover that their only son has been killed and the grief turns them inside out.  Trying to survive in Berlin where they see chaos around them, they send out individual postcards around the city urging people to resist.  Meanwhile the authorities are trying to find out who is sending these messages, and the pressure is beginning to mount.  A serious watch, that is made bearable by the stellar Brendan Gleeson and Emma Thompson who I think puts in an amazing performance.  She is by far one of my favorite actresses to watch on screen - maybe the lack of botox allows her to show emotions so well, and she radiates sadness and fear as well as love in this little movie. 

It is not a light watch and left me a little sad at the end.  3/5

Star Wars - The Last Jedi

Look at me - this middle aged lady going out on opening night like a youngster.  Actually friends of mine got tickets from their insurance team and so we were also loaded up with cheap sugary tasteless ice cream,  a bucket of popcorn and diet coke to make me want to pee after 10 minutes.  It did make me feel old to remember going to the same cinema to see the original star wars in 1977 with my parents, and now we are old enough to be taking my friends kids.

So of course it is another story about good vs evil, except this time a lady gets to fight with a light sabre, the baddie takes the mask off and  Carrie Fisher shines in her role while Luke Skywalker looks like he is heading off to rehab.

Although many of the nuances of the story may have been lost on me, and some of the plot points as I may have dozed off in places (to be fair I was at work until 4am this morning and only managed to fall asleep from 6-7am).  I did find it entertaining, and you know what you are in for.  Lots of serious discussions, battles, explosions, running, a touch of zen thrown in, more battles, loud explosions, fire, and finally the big battle.  I do wonder though if all the focus on the special effects comes ahead of making a good story, often it feels to me like it is just a series of battle scenes strung together in order to sell more video games.

So I wandered as I left the cinema if my friends boys will be coming back in another 40 years to see the newest one in the series?  3/5

Doomsday

On our NZ Duke TV channel  - they are currently playing a History Channel programme called Doomsday, that I recorded to watch the past two weeks or so.  It demonstrates 10 possible scenarios about the way the world could end, all looking rather grim and seem to involve us becoming crispy critters. 

This week was about a rogue planet coming close to earth causing the earth to break up.  Last weeks was about the earth entering a black hole.  As it is an American produced show, when each disaster starts to occur it primarily seems to destroy regions in Asia or Europe first.  The last lot of humans surviving are of course Americans, in the Black hole episode it was American military leader and politicians hidden in bunkers under mountains - they did eventually all get burnt up.  This week it was Americans in a submarine who were the last survivors - no mention of any other nationalities and their navies.  They too ended up burnt up. 

The Midnight Line - Lee Child

Oh boyfriend - this is it, the final breakup. We had a good run you and I, but it's over I can't do it anymore. You dragged me in thinking it would be fine, but you just gave me the same old same old. You teased me with a lady ring, and dreams of West Point, but 100 pages later you were still at the diner or cheap hotel, or dusty road.

So goodbye my friend - we had a good run, and I know you will keep on hopping on buses and find yourself a new lady reader. Good luck - I will miss you! 1/5

Middle Aged Mumster Monday Movie Night In - Patriots Day

After a busy weekend working, it was my middle Aged Mumster Monday Movie Night In.  The candles were lit, the chores discarded, a face mask was donned and the pack of chocolate chippie cookies was cracked open.  I had 20 hours in order to watch Patriots day on my itunes - yippee for 99c specials each week.

As you all probably know, this is the story of the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings starring Mark Wahlberg and many other notable actors including John Goodman and Kevin Bacon.  I thought it would be all doom and gloom and glory, but it was sensitively handled with a lot of respect shown to the victims.  There is a little gore, but not enough to be offensive and it was nice that some of the survivors were shown at the end of the movie. 4/5

Thirty Days - Mark Raphael Baker

This is a pretty raw memoir from Mark Raphael Baker, which he writes about his family and his beloved wife of 33 years Kerryn. He gives a picture of their family life , how they met, how their parents relationships affected their experiences, how they fell in love and their plans for the future.  When Kerryn is diagnosed with stomach cancer he helps her to navigate the ten months until her death.  It is a book about not only grieving, but about living your life to the end, about still making plans and helping your family to be able to continue on without you on.  He talks about dying, death and how all of our lives change in ebbs and flows over our lives, but primarily this is a book about love and family. 4/5

The Last Tudor - Philippa Gregory

I haven't read any Philippa Gregory novels for some time, but liked the premise of this story.  It tells about the end of the Tudors with Lady Jane Grey, who was  manipulated by her family and in laws to become Queen for 9 days before being beheaded as a traitor at only 16 years old.

We also get to meet her younger sisters Katherine and Mary, who are at the mercy of their cousin Queen Elizabeth the First and must follow her instructions or risk being branded traitors like their sister.

For me this felt like an original story about three sisters where there is little written about them, and I enjoyed the novel, easily getting lost in the Tudor times and thinking about how heavy and awkward those big dresses must have been to wear. 4/5

Middle Aged Munster Night In - Four Weddings and a Funeral

Well it was a stay at home Saturday here, which was quite pleasant.  Chores were done and comfy pants worn .  I saw Four Weddings and a Funeral was on.  Can you believe it came out 24 years ago?

At the time it came out I lived in London and I remember going to see it at a cinema in Wimbledon which had 1/2 smoking and non smoking seats.  So you coughed all the way through and came out stinking.

At our work Christmas party that year one of the young girls turned up wearing a knock off of the Versace safety pin dress that Luz Hurley wore to the premiere.   The boys at work talked about it for months after.

Oh and I had a boyfriend who was an extra in the final church scene.  It was so long ago I can't remember what he looked like - haha.

So everytime I watch the movie it makes me smile and remember my years living in London.  I love it's easy English charm and funny characters, and have a soft spot for a young Hugh Grant.  So a highlight if the holiday season as all the old movies are rolled out again.  A refreshing change from car chases, computer generated special effects and super heroes.