My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Stacking the Shelves (details)
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)
HAPPY THINGS:
1. Watching films for the start of the Fall Film Challenge (here)
2. Making Chinese hot pot meal using a fondue pot :-) it worked but was a slower process
3. Custom-made zombie cards, stickers and washi tape by @beecreativegreetings - Thanks Nicole!
Library:
by Katherine Center
-ChickLit
Goodreads
PART of the BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge. Although summer is over, I am still working through some of the books on the list (here).
by Raymond A. Villareal
-Horror, Vampires | Goodreads
IMPULSE pick up. Looks like a good one for R.I.P. 13 reading challenge (here).
AND watched: in theatre
Director/writer: Spike Lee
Writers: Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott
Based on book by: Ron Stallworth
Stars:
-Biography, Comedy, Crime | imdb | my rating: 5
Ron Stallworth, an African-American police officer from Colorado, successfully manages to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan with the help of a white surrogate, who eventually becomes head of the local branch.
“based on some fo’ real, fo’ real shit.”
TIMELY story as a reminder of the past and how things have/have not changed.
Director: Hikaru Toda
-Documentary, Japan | imdb | my rating: 5
Fumi and Kazu are life partners, both professionally and privately: they run the first and only law firm in Japan set up by an openly gay couple. The lawyers know all too well the realities of being a minority in a conformist society, where the collective unity is absolute and often maintained at the expense of individual rights and freedom. Not being part of the majority could lead to prosecution by law and alienation by society at large - illustrated by the cases that the two lawyers take on. The individual freedom is viewed as a privilege not a right, and the fundamental human rights of equality and security are only extended to the majority. In a 2014 report, Amnesty International slammed Japan for 'veering away from global human rights standards', while the World Economic Forum places Japan 101st out of 145 countries in the global gender equality ranking, far behind developing countries such as Rwanda and the Philippines. Laws of Love and Other Things follows the two lawyers as they enter into the lives of their clients; each revealing the hidden diversities of the homogeneous and conservative society. As the two lawyers work hard to defend the rights of their clients, they have their own dilemma to deal with - to raise a family of their own in a society where their partnership have no legal recognition or protection. The film explores the universal concept of love, family, and equality with the personal stories of the characters revealing modern Japan in transition. The film also poses the questions - what are the risks of being an outsider in your own country? What happens when you don't belong to the masses?
THOUGHTS on diversity and conformity prevail.
AND watched: on DVD
Director: Gavin O'Connor
Screenplay: Brian Duffield, Anthony Tambakis, Joel Edgerton
Story by: Brian Duffield
Stars: Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, Ewan McGregor
-Action, Drama, Western | imdb | my rating: 4
A woman asks her ex-lover for help in order to save her outlaw husband from a gang out to kill him.
WESTERN heroine by necessity. Made me think of Natalie's character from Cold Mountain film and this film as the continuation of her story.
AND watched: on DVD for Fall Film Challenge - six degrees from Kevin Bacon (here)
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Writers: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn
Based on comic book The Secret Service by: Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons
Stars: Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Julianne Moore
-Action, Adventure, Comedy | imdb | my review: 5
When their headquarters are destroyed and the world is held hostage, the Kingsman's journey leads them to the discovery of an allied spy organization in the United States. These two elite secret organizations must band together to defeat a common enemy.
Watched: 9/11/18
Connection: Colin Firth starred with Bacon in Where the Truth Lies
Action-packed with British spy work and a kooky villain.
Director: Gus Van Sant
Writer: Chris Sparling
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Naomi Watts, Ken Watanabe
-Drama | imdb | my rating: 4
A suicidal American befriends a Japanese man lost in a forest near Mt. Fuji and the two search for a way out.
Watched: 9/10
Connection: Ken Watanabe was in Batman Begins with Christian Bale who was in The Big Short with Steve Carrell who starred with Bacon in Crazy Stupid Love.
Slow moving but good story on self reflection and survival amongst trees (and dead people).
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently
Thanks for stopping by :-)
