I just returned home from my trip to teach at the Australasian Quilt Convention. These folks sure do know how to throw a party!
As much as I like to focus on the show and what a great job I have, there is another reality: It is difficult to travel around the globe. Sitting in an airplane seat for that long is pretty awful. Watching movies helps to dull the pain.
I was able to sleep on the long flight from LAX to Sydney because I had my own row on the airplane (score!) and could lay down flat. Every other flight I was on was full so I was awake for every minute of the joy. All 34 hours coming home. T H I R T Y - F O U R H O U R S.
I kept a list of the movies I watched and wrote my reviews for my husband. You can read them, too, if you like:
9
I've seen this before, but I didn't really know that until I started watching it. I would have stopped watching it if I had remembered how it ended, so it was kind of like re-watching it for the first time? I kind of liked it but it wasn't a straight post-apocalyptic tale (which I love) but rather very graphic novel-ly and those aren't my favorite stories. This is animated, if I forgot to mention that.
About Time
I'm trying to find a way to tell you that I love this movie in stronger terms than "I LOVE THIS MOVIE." Billy Nighy was in it, and I kept waiting for him to break out into song, a la Love Actually. He was wonderful, even when not singing. The main character was an older Weasley boy (Harry Potter), but he was a charming young man. This movie is about time travel but it's not about time travel at the same time. It's about life and love and ... just rent this movie. NOW!
Diary of A Wimpy Kid
Not my first choice in movies, but it was short and my flight from NY to LA was ending. This was cute and, from what I remember from 30+ years ago, a pretty good depiction of how awful middle school can be.
Arrow, season 2, episodes 1-9
I binge-watched on Arrow season 1 on Netflix last year and was bummed that I didn't start watching the current episodes on Hulu this year while the early episodes were still available. I hoped that the 9 episodes available on the flight to Australia would catch me up to the episodes currently on Hulu, but alas, no. I have to wait until the season is over to watch the rest.
Law Abiding Citizen
I watched this at the recommendation of my seatmate on my flight home from Australia. He thought it one of the most underrated movies ever. As I watched it, it looked a little familiar. The longer I watched it, the more familiar it got. I never remembered it enough to turn it off, so I re-watched the whole thing. I don't think I agree with my seat-mate on the "most underrated movie ever" but it was a decent movie. Gerard Butler is usually enough reason to watch a movie, but he wasn't very Gerard Butler-ish in this. Creepy.
Sherlock, season 3 episode 3
Not having TV at home, I have to rely on the internet to keep up with some current shows. Sometimes, though, the internet fails me. Sherlock season 3 was available on PBS for a limited time. I am apparently not the only person who thinks that this is the best. show. ever. made. Whenever I went to PBS online, I could never stream the show. Too many other folks were trying to watch it at the same time and we broke the internet. I snuck in episodes 1 and 2, but they took the show down before I got to see episode 3. Thank you, Delta. My life is more complete now. If you really loved me, though, you'd air Downton Abbey. I had the same problem and only saw the first episode of this season. Sigh.
Homefront
Jason Statham is a delightful man. I first fell in love with him in The Transporter. Fell. In. Love. Crank was kind of silly but had its moments.
In the Name of the King? To whom did he lose a bet that he took that role?
War? Ugh. How can Jason Statham + Jet Li = an awful, awful movie?
Death Race was fair to middling.
I am still waiting for another magical Jason Statham movie, so I watched Homefront. It was not magical, but I was stuck on a plane for over 12 hours and felt like giving my man Jason another shot. The movie was middling to good, but no better. Winona Ryder (remember her?) held a major role. I didn't know she still acted. The interesting part of this movie is that the screenplay was written by Sylvester Stallone. I liked it more because of that.
Mud
Never heard of it, but I've heard of Matthew McConaughey. The movie felt a bit like The Client, but not in a bad way. I really liked this movie and I want to know more about what happened to many of these characters.
All is Lost
I wish I had held the job as the dialogue coach for this movie. I remember one word being spoken after the introduction voice-over. One. Word. I watched a movie kind of like that once before, but this one didn't have a volleyball named Wilson to spice up the conversation. The movie was probably pretty good, but I was 20 hours into a 34 hour trip home. I won't watch it again, but I'm glad I watched it on a plane. It would be a terrible movie to watch at home, since I'm always sewing. This was definitely a "need to watch 100% of the time" movie.
Billy Elliott
I felt like I was missing out by not having seen this movie. I watched it, and still don't feel like an insider. Is it awful to say that I didn't love it? I liked it but didn't love it. I know it's probably asking a lot of a child actor, but when he was learning to dance, the child actor was obviously a talented dancer and didn't do "clumsy" well.
Enough Said
Cute. Sweet. I didn't know the cast before I watched it and if I had I likely wouldn't have watched it. Not a huge fan of Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, James Gandolfini, or Catherine Keener. I am a huge Toni Collette fan, but her character wasn't very sympathetic. This movie makes me glad that my last first date was when I was 15. Unless you are my children or grandson. If you are, I didn't start dating until I was 30. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Invictus
Another movie I felt left out by not having seen. I saw it now and a few things happened: I fell more deeply in love with Matt Damon. Sigh. I also got a better appreciation for Mandela and the monumental job he took on when he was elected. It's also a great underdog sports movie. This one, I loved.
That's my movie list, folks. Was I wrong about any of these?
I probably won't get to watch any more movies until I fly to the UK this summer. Movies are a great travel perk.
As much as I like to focus on the show and what a great job I have, there is another reality: It is difficult to travel around the globe. Sitting in an airplane seat for that long is pretty awful. Watching movies helps to dull the pain.
I was able to sleep on the long flight from LAX to Sydney because I had my own row on the airplane (score!) and could lay down flat. Every other flight I was on was full so I was awake for every minute of the joy. All 34 hours coming home. T H I R T Y - F O U R H O U R S.
I kept a list of the movies I watched and wrote my reviews for my husband. You can read them, too, if you like:
9
I've seen this before, but I didn't really know that until I started watching it. I would have stopped watching it if I had remembered how it ended, so it was kind of like re-watching it for the first time? I kind of liked it but it wasn't a straight post-apocalyptic tale (which I love) but rather very graphic novel-ly and those aren't my favorite stories. This is animated, if I forgot to mention that.
About Time
I'm trying to find a way to tell you that I love this movie in stronger terms than "I LOVE THIS MOVIE." Billy Nighy was in it, and I kept waiting for him to break out into song, a la Love Actually. He was wonderful, even when not singing. The main character was an older Weasley boy (Harry Potter), but he was a charming young man. This movie is about time travel but it's not about time travel at the same time. It's about life and love and ... just rent this movie. NOW!
Diary of A Wimpy Kid
Not my first choice in movies, but it was short and my flight from NY to LA was ending. This was cute and, from what I remember from 30+ years ago, a pretty good depiction of how awful middle school can be.
Arrow, season 2, episodes 1-9
I binge-watched on Arrow season 1 on Netflix last year and was bummed that I didn't start watching the current episodes on Hulu this year while the early episodes were still available. I hoped that the 9 episodes available on the flight to Australia would catch me up to the episodes currently on Hulu, but alas, no. I have to wait until the season is over to watch the rest.
Law Abiding Citizen
I watched this at the recommendation of my seatmate on my flight home from Australia. He thought it one of the most underrated movies ever. As I watched it, it looked a little familiar. The longer I watched it, the more familiar it got. I never remembered it enough to turn it off, so I re-watched the whole thing. I don't think I agree with my seat-mate on the "most underrated movie ever" but it was a decent movie. Gerard Butler is usually enough reason to watch a movie, but he wasn't very Gerard Butler-ish in this. Creepy.
Sherlock, season 3 episode 3
Not having TV at home, I have to rely on the internet to keep up with some current shows. Sometimes, though, the internet fails me. Sherlock season 3 was available on PBS for a limited time. I am apparently not the only person who thinks that this is the best. show. ever. made. Whenever I went to PBS online, I could never stream the show. Too many other folks were trying to watch it at the same time and we broke the internet. I snuck in episodes 1 and 2, but they took the show down before I got to see episode 3. Thank you, Delta. My life is more complete now. If you really loved me, though, you'd air Downton Abbey. I had the same problem and only saw the first episode of this season. Sigh.
Homefront
Jason Statham is a delightful man. I first fell in love with him in The Transporter. Fell. In. Love. Crank was kind of silly but had its moments.
In the Name of the King? To whom did he lose a bet that he took that role?
War? Ugh. How can Jason Statham + Jet Li = an awful, awful movie?
Death Race was fair to middling.
I am still waiting for another magical Jason Statham movie, so I watched Homefront. It was not magical, but I was stuck on a plane for over 12 hours and felt like giving my man Jason another shot. The movie was middling to good, but no better. Winona Ryder (remember her?) held a major role. I didn't know she still acted. The interesting part of this movie is that the screenplay was written by Sylvester Stallone. I liked it more because of that.
Mud
Never heard of it, but I've heard of Matthew McConaughey. The movie felt a bit like The Client, but not in a bad way. I really liked this movie and I want to know more about what happened to many of these characters.
All is Lost
I wish I had held the job as the dialogue coach for this movie. I remember one word being spoken after the introduction voice-over. One. Word. I watched a movie kind of like that once before, but this one didn't have a volleyball named Wilson to spice up the conversation. The movie was probably pretty good, but I was 20 hours into a 34 hour trip home. I won't watch it again, but I'm glad I watched it on a plane. It would be a terrible movie to watch at home, since I'm always sewing. This was definitely a "need to watch 100% of the time" movie.
Billy Elliott
I felt like I was missing out by not having seen this movie. I watched it, and still don't feel like an insider. Is it awful to say that I didn't love it? I liked it but didn't love it. I know it's probably asking a lot of a child actor, but when he was learning to dance, the child actor was obviously a talented dancer and didn't do "clumsy" well.
Enough Said
Cute. Sweet. I didn't know the cast before I watched it and if I had I likely wouldn't have watched it. Not a huge fan of Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, James Gandolfini, or Catherine Keener. I am a huge Toni Collette fan, but her character wasn't very sympathetic. This movie makes me glad that my last first date was when I was 15. Unless you are my children or grandson. If you are, I didn't start dating until I was 30. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Invictus
Another movie I felt left out by not having seen. I saw it now and a few things happened: I fell more deeply in love with Matt Damon. Sigh. I also got a better appreciation for Mandela and the monumental job he took on when he was elected. It's also a great underdog sports movie. This one, I loved.
That's my movie list, folks. Was I wrong about any of these?
I probably won't get to watch any more movies until I fly to the UK this summer. Movies are a great travel perk.
2 comments:
I.am.totally.with.you.on.Sherlock! And funny how I wanted to watch Mud last night, but the "independent" category on Netflix scared me away. I will watch it tonight sdincevI love Matthew M. Again, I have not seen most of the movies, but I will definitely give a shot to Matt Damon and Jason Chatham since I like them a lot. Thanks for the review! PS. All is lost was highly recommended by someone for me to watch, too.
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