Dream Room

I like the idea of soft greys and white, and no clutter (well compared to my room). Looks like a great place to fall into and read.

La Maison De Nina

La Maison De Nina - DVD (2004)

I almost didn't get to watch this dvd, as I had left it til last, but the weather conspired against me and Bones didn't get good reception tonight, so it was easier to pop the DVD on then watch old stuff on the DVR.

Set at the end of the war, Nina runs a home for Jewish orphans outside Paris, who live a quiet life in the leafy grounds of a large home. Joined by a group of boys who have been liberated from the concentration camps, their lives are disrupted by the unruly and disturbed children. Helping them to settle in, and find the fate of their families provide many challenges.

4/5 for this very moving story. I sooo wish that TV would play quality dramas like this instead of Bones, CSI and NCIS rubbish.

Amelia

Amelia - DVD (2009)

I had hesitated seeing this one at the movies, only because at the time it played here we had the sunniest days of our summer, and sitting inside seemed like a waste of sunshine. Now that the winter has truly arrived it is the perfect opportunity to catch up.

I have a distinct memory of learning about Amelia Earhart when we were at primary school at about seven, in one of those shoolastic books that talked about all kinds of bits and pieces. So I was looking forward to the movie.

It was beautiful and an interesting story, but I was distracted by Hilary Swank. So much effort seemed to have gone into her portrayal of the walk, talk and hairstyle that magic was lost. There was no spark, no emotion - she just seemed a bit wooden to me. It felt still when Richard Gere reached for her hand and Ewan McGregor went for a smackeroo. Such a shame.

So tis only a lowly 2/5 for this flight of fancy.

The Last Station

The Last Station - (2009)

So last week Kate Roger, our movie reviewer on TV gave this one a nearly perfect score, and the girls and I chose to see this one instead of Sex and the City, which only received a 1/5.

Essentially it is the tale of two love stories. Leo Tolstoy and his wife the Countess Sofya, who is emotional as she tries to keep control of the will and her opinionated husband. Valentin Bulgakov is employed as Tolstoys personal secretary, and is involved in his attempt to create a communal living environment rather than fictional writing.

Tolstoy becomes angry with his wife and leaves, becoming ill on the train, he decamps to a railway station, and it is here that the last drama plays out.

3/5 - it was OK, slightly slow, and the warm cinema caused me to doze off several times. Oh, also we were the youngest crowd in the cinema, it was an early session though, early enough to have time to get home for a curry and then home for Grand Designs. Yippee for Saturday.

The Postmistress

The Postmistress - Sarah Blake (2010)

After my experience with Wolf Hall , I was a bit hesitant starting my next book. The cover and the premise looked interesting, and the beginning was solid enough.

Entwining the stories of Iris, the local Postmistress, Emma the young new doctors wife, and Frankie Bard an American radio reporter in London who all find that their lives changing during the second world war.

About the middle, it seemed to lose it's momentum and I was a bit confused about why Frankie ends up traveling to Berlin, and how Emma seems to just wander around and worry about her husband.

Tying everything together at the end, on reflection the novel was OK, but seemed to not really live up to it's promises and I never really felt connected to any of the characters.

3/5

Away We Go - DVD

Away We Go - DVD (2009)

I know, we don't make many films that appeal to the large growing indie alternative 20/30/40 year olds. You know, the ones that live like they are still 21, living in poky rentals and buying op shop clothes. No doubt one of them is vegetarian, they would love to drive an eco friendly vechile or bike everywhere, they buy organic, shop on ETSY, and feel alienated by all the blockbuster hollywood movies.

We'll employ Sam Mendes to direct and we'll write it about their travels all around the states and Canada, to find somewhere perfect to live. We just need to find lots of kooky friends and relatives for them to visit, and we need to find a whiny singer song writer to provide the background music.

I think I really liked the idea of this movie, and the previews appealed to me more than the actual movie, which I found a bit of a snore. So my sweet little indie/alt loving heart could only give it a 2/5.

Wolf Hall

Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel (2009)

Approach with caution, I had been aching to read this one all year and it was a six month wait at the library. About 5 times I had lifted it off the shelves at various shops, but each time I shoved it back and inched away, waiting for the reserve to be mine. And mine it was, just before a long weekend, so as my mission I set upon reading it on Friday night and finished tonight. Alas though, 300 pages into the book, I realized that this 500+ page tome, could only be part one of what must be a trilogy - a very long trilogy.

Telling the tale of the early years of the rise of Thomas Cromwell, in Henry the VIIIs court, it is the serious mans version of the story of the king and the rise of Anne Boleyn, who is set to become queen at the expense of Queen Katherine. I love me a bit of Henry the VIII normally, cause you know I loved Hampton Court Palace, I could so live there. I even enjoyed studying about Thomas More at high school, even if we had to do A Man For All Seasons as a play (at an all girls school when we were 13).

I am a great fan of many in the historical genre, but my tolerance is stretched whenever a novel spins off into too much political or courtroom drama, and I felt that Wolf Hall suffered from too much seriousness. It felt like it was trying to be the serious mans The Other Boleyn Girl, and show no bodices or heaving bosoms. Instead it was full of dull men in their dark capes and hats who had serious business to discuss.

So I am sad to give this serious weighty tome a 2/5 and that I will stray away from part two, three or any other follow up.

It also makes me remember to stray away from award winners, as literature critics I feel are going the way of music critics, of trying to find the offbeat, the serious and often the strange to worship and follow, and sometimes my heart doesn't agree with their choices.

Hermit

Dear pretty bedrooms found in blogland (sorry we don't know who took these lovely shots).

Our bedroom may not be quite as pretty and calm, but we got some relaxation in it nevertheless this weekend. I have made it 300 pages through Wolf Hall, and will have it back in the library by its due date. I don't know that I'm liking it, and am thinking I should give up, but 300 is an investment of time.

So Pops and I will snuggle down between the covers. It's cool and blustery here and tv sucks. I mean really really sucks.

So I shall become a literary hermit for the winter. Not such a bad choice I think.


Oh and besides the tv being a suckfest of programming, it is sooooo hard to find interior furnishings here in NZ. We seem to be stuck in a plethora of faux silk slippery hideous duvet covers, or ones covered in playboy logos or furnishings that have been in the shops since 1982. I don't think the buyers for shops have read a design blog or magazine for twenty years. I sooooo would love their job.

2012 - DVD

2012 - DVD

Well I like me a good disaster film, and this one covers the mother of all end of the world scenarios. It also raises the serious question of how John Cusack looks younger than his most recent other outings, and actually is turned into a reasonably fair nerdy action hero. Watch him run, jump, swim and leap! All without mussing his hair.

So if cracking earthquakes, volcanoes and huge tsunamis are your thing, leave your common sense at the door and watch this, or better yet save it for Dec 21st, 2012. I bet they do a roaring trade that week.

3/5

Intervention - Robin Cook

Intervention - Robin Cook (2010)

So I was in the warehouse, and was tempted by this book in the bargain bin. I could have given in and spent the $12, but the guilts got the better of me. I walked away - I did. Instead I rushed home and booked it in at the library, and had it in my hands within two days. I won't promise to buy no books this year, but I am trying to restrict it to only a couple.

So, Robin Cook writes pretty standard medical thrillers and this one didn't really surprise me with plot twists, although it did dart of in tangents and explore a few modern issues. I found all the digging around in the Vatican without being caught a bit silly and surprising, and I enjoyed the exploration of alternative medicine. I don't believe in chiropractor's and homeopathy, but I have had acupuncture on my back that worked well. It think the majority of it is placebo medicine, but if it makes you happy, go for it.

A 3/5 for this one. I am now on to my big challenge of reading Wolf Hall which is a bit daunting, luckily it is a three day weekend here.