Saturday, February 17, 2018

Lovely Books and Things - 2.17.18

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update

Linking up with:
Stacking the Shelves (details)
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

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HAPPY THINGS:

1. Mardi Gras music on Fat Tuesday - makes you wanna shake that booty

2. Sending Valentine's Day cheer via both mail and text

3. Craft magazines with to-do kits included - Mollie Makes, Make Special Cards, and My Creative Journal. I will unbag each over the next couple weeks so you can see the goods (see below for the first reveal). And, I will review each as I tackle them.



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Bought:

Her Body and Other Parties
by Carmen Maria Machado
-Feminism, Horror, Short Stories
Amazon | Goodreads

IMPULSE buy at Bowser Books on Fillmore Street, San Francisco. Feminist related books have been on my radar since watching the tv series, The Handmaid's Tale.

Manhattan Beach
by Jennifer Egan
-Historical, Literary
Amazon | Goodreads

FOR the upcoming competition of The Tournament of Books (here).


Unbagging:

Mollie Makes - #88
Crochet, Papercraft, Sew, Embroider, Macrame

includes:
magazine with craft and inspiration ideas
pom pom love birds kit
with all the ingredients needed to make them (yarn, felt, pom pom maker)


OTHER things (kinda book-related):


Check out my Blog About It: February RED post (here)


AND watched: in theatre

Faces Places (2017)
Directors/Writers: JR and Agnès Varda
Stars: Jean-Paul Beaujon, Amaury Bossy
-Documentary | imdb | my rating: 5
Oscar 2018 nominee

Director Agnes Varda and photographer/muralist J.R. journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship.

DELIGHTFUL to watch these two artists travel into small towns in France making their creations and impacting the communities in small ways.

Oscar Shorts 2018

ANIMATION:
Dear Basketball (USA), in which narrator Kobe Bryant explores what it means to achieve your dream and then leave it behind
Garden Party (France), in which a couple of amphibians in a deserted house explore their surroundings and follow their primal instincts
Lou (USA), the story of a toy-stealing bully who ruins recess for a playground full of kids, but one thing stands in his way: the “Lost and Found” box
Negative Space (France)*, about a boy whose dad taught him how to pack
Revolting Rhymes (UK), which interweaves Roald Dahl’s retellings of classic fairy tales with playful twists and surprising endings.

Bonus animated shorts include Weeds, Lost Property Office and Achoo!

LIVE ACTION:
Dekalb Elementary (USA), inspired by a 911 call placed during a school shooting incident in Atlanta, Georgia
My Nephew Emmett (USA), set in 1955 and based on the true story of a Mississippi preacher who tries to protect his 14-year-old nephew, Emmett Till, from two racist killers out for blood
The Eleven O’Clock (Australia), in which the delusional patient of a psychiatrist believes he is actually the psychiatrist, causing each to treat the other as the session gets out of control
The Silent Child (UK)*, centering around a profoundly deaf four-year-old girl who is born into a middle class family and lives in a world of silence until a caring social worker teaches her the gift of communication
Watu Wote - All of Us (Germany/Kenya), For almost a decade Kenya has been targeted by terrorist attacks of the Al-Shabaab. An atmosphere of anxiety and mistrust between Muslims and Christians is growing. Until in December 2015, Muslim bus passengers showed that solidarity can prevail.

THESE were all good and all deserving with various current topics. I put a * next to my favorites.


Mostly British Film Festival 2018
(details)

GOT a festival pass and will catch as many as I can. These are what I have attended so far.

Mad To Be Normal (2017)
Director/Writer: Robert Mullan
Writer: Tracy Moreton
Stars: David Tennant, Elisabeth Moss
-Biography, Drama, History, UK | imdb | my rating: 4

During the 1960s, a renegade Scottish psychiatrist courts controversy within his profession for his approach to the field, and for the unique community he creates for his patients to inhabit.

FASCINATING take on R.D. Laing - some of his relationships and methods regarding mental illness. Got me curious to want to learn more about his background.

The Party (2017)
Director: Sally Potter
Writers: Sally Potter, Walter Donohue (story editor)
Stars: Timothy Spall, Kristin Scott Thomas,
-Comedy, Drama, UK | imdb | my rating: 5

Janet hosts a party to celebrate her new promotion, but once the guests arrive it becomes clear that not everything is going to go down as smoothly as the red wine.

STYLISTICALLY a beautifully made in black/white. The story is one that builds into a crazy climax. Loved it.

Joanne Froggatt Tribute
film clips and onstage interview

LOVED this Q&A with Joanne regarding her past works including the screening of the night, A Crooked Somebody. I really want to see her current tv series, Liar which is a British psychological thriller.

A Crooked Somebody (2017)
Director: Trevor White
Writer: Andrew Zilch
Stars: Gillian Vigman, Ed Harris, Joanne Froggatt
-Drama, Thriller | imdb | my rating: 5

An attention-seeking psychic is kidnapped and tries to use the situation to boost his popularity.

GOT me more aware of psychics. Fun twists and turns along the way with this one.


AND watched: on DVD

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Director/Writer: Matt Reeves
Writer: Mark Bomback
Based on characters by: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
Suggested by novel: La planète des singes by Pierre Boulle
Stars: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn
-Action, Adventure, Drama | imdb | my rating: 5
Oscar 2018 nominee

After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind.

STRUGGLES that are relatable when it comes to power/peace and the race/class system.

Mother! (2017)
Director/Writer: Darren Aronofsky
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem
-Drama, Horror, Mystery | imdb | my rating: 4

A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.

MANY layers come to mind. At face value it is a weird horror tale. But the after effects make you think of the relation to the creation story.

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* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

:-)
 
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