Sunday, January 19, 2014

Sunday Salon: Week at the movies

A good, chilly morning to you all.  So the 10 day forecast doesn't show one day of 80 degrees, and the evenings are all below 60 degrees, so I guess maybe winter has come to Florida? It's a miracle.  Jeans and jackets for everyone!

In our house, we get pretty excited when the Oscar nominations are announced.  The big question is always how many of the important movies have we seen, and how many do we need to cram in?  This year we did a pretty good job.  I doubt we will even attempt to see "The Wolf of Wall Street" (not sure I can sit through 3 hours of that), but if we hit "Nebraska" and "Dallas Buyers Club", I think we can feel good about our track record.  We've got a three day weekend, so we should hit one of those today or tomorrow.
 
I've also strangely been on a Netflix bender during the day, while I'm eating lunch or whatever.  And as a result of good recommendations, all but one have been excellent (wasn't in love with the cheap Charles Manson documentary).  So you may see my Letterboxd stuff coming through Facebook.  It does appear I have no discrimination, but trust me, I've had a good week.

I've been doing a lot of walking to get my Fitbit steps in.  No matter what I do (there are days when I NEVER SIT DOWN), I can't get close to Kathy (Bermudaonion) and Julie (Booking Mama).  I swear they must run 24/7 and not sleep.  I had to get as many steps in yesterday in order to offset the live Maine lobsters that my dad bought for us to eat last night.  Oh boy, were they good!  I had to put down garbage bags on my kitchen table to protect it from all the butter and lobster juice flying everywhere.

On the other hand, my reading isn't all that swift.  My audio time has been better than print.  I finished "Songs of Willow Frost" by Jamie Ford on audio.  It was OK, but nothing about it blew my mind.  Sweet, predictable, but not exactly what I was hoping for.  I'm now about halfway through "Nos4a2" by Joe Hill and it is creepy and a little ridiculous, in the best possible way.  And the narration!  It is SO GOOD.  This woman, Kate Mulgrew, was made to narrate his books.

In print I finished "Palestine", which was incredible and intense.  If you like historical graphic novels, and you ever wanted to get a street level view of what is really going on over there, you shouldn't miss this one.  Now I have just started Mark Helprin's "Winter's Tale", because I wanted to read it before it comes out at the theater.  I haven't made much progress, because I've distracted myself.  Has anyone read this?  It seemed worthy of reading based on the movie trailer.  I need to focus a little more on sitting still.

Wishing you all a great Sunday and three day weekend, if you get Monday off from work.  Does anyone have fun plans?



13 comments:

rhapsodyinbooks said...

I'm glad I don't have a fitbit - it would sit around a lot, just like me!

Unknown said...

I would love to hear some of your Netflix recommendations :)

bermudaonion said...

Come up and help out at the store and you'll get LOTS of steps in.

Vance and I are trying to figure out what movie to see this week - it's between Inside Llewynn Davis, Nebraska, and the Dallas Buyers Club. I also have plans to see August: Osage County with a friend on Wednesday. I think I'll avoid The Wolf of Wall Street, too. I listened to the book and that was enough.

Anonymous said...

I don't think I could sit through Wolf of Wall Street, either. It just seems obnoxious.

My mom saw Philomena yesterday and came home so angry she couldn't even express herself. She said it was excellent, but one of those films that makes you ashamed of humans. I've only seen one of the nominees - Gravity - and I don't see that fact changing before the awards. I'll still watch, though.

I'm sorry you didn't like Songs of Willow Frost - it was one of my favorites last year. I did try to read Winter's Tale once for a read-along, and gave up. I love his short fiction, though.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

I have been wanting to read Winter's Tale for so long. Of course the movie has bumped it up my TBR, but it's huge!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Iliana said...

I wish I had a three day weekend but oh well... I used to always get so excited about Oscar nominations and my friends and I would have Oscar parties but I hardly ever make it to the movies anymore and we watch shows but not as many movies. Looking forward to your review of Nos4a2. Looks like a great book!

Beth F said...

We haven't been in the mood for movies.. but we're waitng for Llewynn Davis to get here.

JoAnn said...

Even winter in Florida seemed like paradise to me! I appreciated the cool temperatures... we got some work done on the condo, plus lots of biking and beach walking. We were planning to go to the movies, but never got around to it. Figured we'd wait until we got back to the snow and cold.

Marie Cloutier said...

I'm so glad to hear you loved Palestine. Joe Sacco's Safe Area Gorazde was the first graphic novel I ever read and he really opened my eyes to the potential of the genre. he's amazing!

Literary Feline said...

I plan to make Winter's Tale my next read! I hope you enjoy it.

I have a copy of Palestine--have had it for years--but haven't yet read it. I really should. My graphic novel TBR stack always gets overlooked.

I hope you have a great week, Sandy! Enjoy those movies!

Natalie~Coffee and a Book Chick said...

I loved, loved, loved NOS4A2, and I've heard so much about the audio and amazing narration by Kate Mulgrew, that I'm a little sad I didn't listen to this one instead of reading it! Argh.

Jenny said...

I get so excited about the oscars too but find so few people who do. We saw American Hustle which was good but just alright good, though the acting was all great!