The Lost Girls of Paris - Pam Jenoff

This is the story of three women.  Eleanor Trigg who is supervising the training and selection of women to be flown into France during WWII to disrupt the activities of the Nazis and receive and transmit messages via hidden radios.  Marie, a young single mother who is recruited and flown on a dangerous mission wondering when she will see her young daughter again.  And finally Grace, a young widower who in 1946 finds a collection of photos of young women, and sets out to find out what happened to them.

I have to say that I felt a little disconnected from all the characters and felt like they were all a little undeveloped.  The title felt a bit misleading, as the girls were not from Paris, and in fact Paris featured only a tiny bit in the story.  Marie who at the center of the story seemed to be in France, but had little to do with the locals and just seemed to be there not doing much.   I  don't believe that the local leader could be in France co-coordinating escapes and missions without speaking French .  I would have liked more back story about both Grace and Eleanor, they didn't shine out to me  and left me feeling like they were 2 dimensional.

I am enjoying the stories of the war that are being written lately, but this one was a little meh for me.  3/5

Colette

A wild weather weekend was promised, but hadn't really come to our city.  The day was overcast and humid, but altogether not too bad.  I met up with a friend for lunch, a quick stroll and then we went to the cinema.  I didn't really know too much about this movie, although writing this now I do remember seeing the preview a couple of months ago.

Based on the memoirs of French writer Colette, this biopic has Kiera Knightly as the young French woman who after living an idyllic life in the most beautiful rural farmhouse goes to Paris with her older husband.  She writes a series of books based on her life, and these are published under his name bring the couple some money and notoriety.  When she wants her independence however, she finds that he has stifled her good name and sold the rights to her novels. 

Although interesting, as with most of the movies of this type, there is only so much that can be fitted into the 2 hours or so of screen time, and sometimes the details seem a bit rushed or a bit clipped.  I did end up wanting to have a holiday in the French countryside with a French bulldog.  Oh and the outfits were rather beautiful.  I could never be as tiny as Kiera or pull them off so well, but the Belle Epoch fashions were just devine.  4/5

Middle Aged Lady Movie Night - Sully

I am sure you are all familiar with the story of Captain Chesley Sullenberger  and his role in landing his passenger jet on the Hudson River in New York in 2009 after engine failure after a bird strike.  I didn't know a lot of the details except from what I saw on the news at the time, and although I spied the posters and trailers of this movie when it came out, I was more than happy to record it on the DVR and watch at my leisure.

It is quite the serious drama, and Tom Hanks plays the captain as a quiet and experienced man, who is not seeking the limelight.  I did like that it did not sensationalize the incident, instead playing the drama quite straight reenactment.  No dramatic rescues or sobbing reunions, heroic rescuers or sexy stewardesses.  If you do watch the movie do watch all the credits - it is worth watching the last 5 minutes. 

Small Fry - Lisa Brennan-Jobs

Part of me was interested in this memoir from Lisa Brennan-Jobs, the daughter of Steve Jobs the founder of Apple.  In parts it was interesting, I didn't know anything really about her or him, and came out feeling a bit sad for her, as she seemed to be neglected by both parents and never really had a stable childhood.  Her relationship with her dad was just weird - he lived in a mansion with little to no furniture and made her sleep in a bedroom where she had to go through his bedroom to leave or use the bathroom.

When invited to live with her dad and his wife as a teenager, Lisa seemed to be used mainly as a babysitter and her father  never seemed to support her or even provide any real show of affection mainly being indifferent and negligent in the care of his daughter.  He didn't pay for her college fees or even give her a computer which just seems a bit weird to me. 

I guess this book is a way for her to put her story out in the public domain.   I am sure that people would expect her to have lived a life like the rich kids of instagram with private planes, designer clothes and tacky showy lives, but her reality was much different. 3/5

All You Can Ever Know - Nicole Chung

Nicole Chung tells her story about how as a premature baby, she was given up for adoption by her Korean parents and adopted by a white couple in a rural town.  Being the only Asian face in her town, she often  about her birth family and their reasons for giving her up. 

Although I enjoyed her story, somehow I felt like there was a little lack of substance, and felt that maybe she was a little young to write this story, that I want to know what happens in another 20 years, what happens with her own children and how her relationship develops with her birth family and adopted parents. 3/5

All The Queen's Corgis - Penny Junor

I have a soft spot for the Queens dogs and this little book is an interesting peak into their story.   Since she was a little girl she has had a series of corgis and dorgis (a dachshund mix).  It must be the good life living in palaces, although it seems one would not want to have been a palace employee who got in their way, where it seems many got a nip or a bite. 

My grandparents had a corgi for many years, and they were lovable and loyal dogs, and it was always nice that the Queen helped to make this breed more popular.  A light quick read that made me smile.  4/5

Middle Aged lady Movie Night - Rampage

Holy King Kong  my middle aged friends.  I'm already 45 minutes into this CGI monstrosity and I can tell that it is not going to win me over and leave me wanting more.  I do admit to having a soft spot for The Rock - Dwayne Johnson, as he plays a sensitive scientist who cares about his Gorilla George who gets blasted with space rock and turns into a gigantic monster who is going to tear down a city and get chased by helicopters.  Where have we seen this story before?

I am not immune to a bit of fun - I get that this is not meant to be a serious drama, but it is hard to take any of this nonsense seriously, but I guess most of the younger audience won't care about that, they just want the big scenes, the chases and fire.  I see reading the Wikipedia entry that the movie is loosely based on a video game which explains it all really.  So this is a bit of  a Friday fail for me - 2/5.

Bodyguard

I have been a binge watcher this week and watching Bodyguard on Netflix.  What a great little show.  It is only 6 episodes long but even with 15 minutes to go it is still hard to tell who the good guys and the bad guys are.  Richard Madden plays Police Sergeant David Budd, a British Army War Veteran with some PTSD, who secures a job protecting the Home Secretary Julia Montague. 

This is British Police drama at its best, with a fast dramatic pace and I couldn't wait to watch each episode, so much that I have ignored the rest of the shows on my DVR and reading any books this week.  I do so hope that there is a second series in the works. 

Music Monday - Shallow - Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper

After seeing this movie - A Star is Born several weeks ago, I fell in love with this song more and more.  It was nice to see that they won the Grammy for it, and I am sure that the Oscar will be theirs as well.  Such a nice part of the movie, and both Lady Gaga and Bradley Coopers voices melt together.

It is a song that appeals to so many people too.  I have heard the 30 year old surgeon at work singing along, and was in a dress shop the other day and all the ladies were singing along too. 

Middle Aged Lady Movie Night - Blackkklansman

After an afternoon wandering round and getting the chores done, I had the tastiest dinner I had had in a while - a chicken taco feast.  The 99c specials are going well, and a week or two ago itunes put this one on special Blackkklansman which I had been meaning to see.  John David Washington plays a Colorado Detective who tries to infiltrate the Klan, but as he is African American he can't meet up with them, so sends his colleague played by Adam Driver in his place.  Based on a true story, it brings all kinds of issues about race into the story and if I didn't know that people like this existed, I would find the story hard to believe.  4/5

Middle Aged Lady Movie Night - Red Sparrow

Break out the Pepsi Max bottle it's Friday night, and time to sit on the couch after a hard day at the hospital.  Cheap noodles for dinner and now time for a 99c movie -  I feel like the last of the big spenders.  Red Sparrow came out at the movies last year I think, and is a movie that I think is more concentrated on the style and feel than the story.  Jennifer Lawrence is always compelling to watch - and I always feel like she is a true movie star whenever I see her on screen.

In this movie she plays a Bolshoi Ballerina that ends up with a leg injury ruining her career.  In order to support her and her mother, she becomes a government trained seductress, using her skills to gain control and power.  Somehow I didn't end up falling into the story and believing what was happening, it just lost its natural edge and tried to be a bit hard and raw, but failed.  Grey uniforms, harsh accents and blunt haircuts didn't convince me and I kept getting distracted by internet shopping. 

By about 1/3 of the way through I got a bit bored, and wandered in and out of the living room, doing some chores while I semi watched.  When I cam in on a horrid torture scene that was enough for me and I switched it off, not caring how it ended.   1/5

Any Ordinary Day - Leigh Sales

Leigh Sales is an Australian journalist who interviews and discusses what happens to people who suffer a terrible trauma, and how they move forward with their lives.  She interviews a collection of people who have been Coroners, police and involved in the trauma themselves.  It was hard not to be moved by their testimonies - and I liked that they discussed how people don't find closure after such events, they just find a new way of moving forward and being in the world.  3/5

The Little Snake - A.L. Kennedy

In his 85th year Michael Caine has written this new book.   It is part memoir about his early life and most of the book is devoted to his advice for actors.  Peppered with stories about the movie industry and the many movies he has been in it talks not only about being a movie star when younger, but as he aged becoming more popular as a character actor.  It is all good advice, about preparing well, learning your lines, making friends on set, being prompt and polite and most of all being professional.

He comes across as a nice guy.  Good to his friends, treated his mum well and loves his wife, daughters and three grandchildren.  4/5

Mary Magdalene

Saturday night and nothing like a big plate of oven chips and a cold drink for dinner.  Time for a movie, and this one I knew little about, the movie that is, I guess I knew a little about Mary Magdalene.  So this is the story of Mary, who leaves her family to follow Jesus and witness his death and resurrection.  This is what I like to think of as a gentle story, lovely rural scenery, soft light, beautiful natural woven linens and shawls, natural faces and no overdone drama.  Rooney Mara as Mary was mesmerizing to watch, although I found the dialogue a little subdued and mumbled (I must be getting old), the movie had a wonderful score highlighting the cinematic scenes.    3.5/5

Call Me By Your Name

It is a summer Friday night here, but the temperature has dropped and it is raining outside which at least will parch the dried out garden, so I am not too unhappy.  It also means that I feel less guilty about parking myself on the couch, with a packet of sweets and a cool drink.  So after a few dreary tv shows it is time for a movie.

Call Me By Your Name is a movie set in 1983 in a small rural Italian setting.  Elio is 17, and is a bit put out when his fathers young 24 year old research assistant Oliver comes to stay for the summer taking over his room and charming all around him.  Slowly a love affair develops for the rest of summer.  Beautifully filmed this movie circles around the story about a slow summer love.  4/5