May the 4th Be With You

I'm a day early, but it's close enough to May 4th to talk Star Wars.  (May the 4th Be With You.  Get it? )

Star Wars is a big deal in our household.  The kids (8,9 and 11) are all up to date. They have signed posters, and sparkly t-shirts and home made light sabers. When I grew up I wanted to BE Luke Skywalker. And our son's middle name is Lucas.  Just saying.

For the last 2 main Star Wars films we've hired an entire cinema for the night the movies opened (the fancy kind with huge chairs, where you can have drinks and food brought in) and filled it with friends. We have a private areas in the lobby - velvet ropes and all - and our own bar. Imagine that WHOOP as the first words scroll up the screen since you know EVERY PERSON in the room.  It's AWESOME!

I'm already feeling nostalgic that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be the last of the main Star Wars arc.  But the trailer - oh how magical the trailer! Cannot tell you how happy I am that JJ Abrams is at the helm. The man knows how to entice, and delight. How to tap into fan's hearts and tell a ripper story.

And then there's this guy. He's just a fan watching the beautiful new Star Wars trailer for the first time. A guy who usually gets maybe 300 hits on a Youtube video. This one is up to 300,000. And no wonder.  It is PURE DELIGHT!  I cry every time I watch it. Every time.



HOW GORGEOUS IS THAT?  I am certain every single reaction he felt in watching the trailer for the first time was mirrored on millions of faces all over the world - including mine.  The joy, the wonder, the emotion - he's an UTTER GEM!!!

So who else can't wait for Episode 9 to hit cinemas this December?

Diary of a Netflix Tragic #notanad

I avoided Netflix for a very long time.  Mostly because I know myself too well - access to that many quality TV shows and movies and I'd never leave the couch!

But we recently gave in and gave it a go and as expected I'm an instant Netflix Tragic.

I LOVE that you can watch a series or even an episode and if stopped part way you can simply pick up exactly where you left off the next time you turn it on.

I LOVE that there is a great mix of new and old so I don't have to head to my DVD shelves to dive into Pride and Prejudice anytime I wish.

I LOVE that I can catch up on a show on my phone at the airport.  Seriously cool, that.

So here are some of my faves:

DRAMA

"Suits" - came into this one years late, seduced by seeing Meghan Markle act. Donna is my bliss.  Super fun, easy watching show!

"The Crown" - what class!  A brilliant, engaging, entertaining, believable glimpse into the life of the British Royal family. And some of the best acting I have ever witnessed.  Jonathon Lithgow as Winston Churchill is superb. The man gives me chills every time he's on screen.

"Orphan Black" is a study in character acting. Tatiana Maslany, who plays several parts, is phenomenal.

COMEDY

"Crashing" - hilarious Brit twentysomething rom com. Only 1 season but I hope they do more!

"Offspring" - glorious Aussie show, so cool to be able to catch up on the final two seaosns that I'd missed when it was on free to air TV!

Hannah Gadsby's "Nanette" is a MUST WATCH stand up show. Funny, moving, and a kick in the pants.

MOVIES

The Netflix Original movies are fantastic!!!  I adored "Set It Up". "Ibiza" was totally fun with some serious sexual tension. As for "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" - le sigh!!!

So, are you a Netflix Tragic too?  Or yet to join the cult?  What are your must watch shows?

Near miss

 Clare’s post earlier in the month about rock stars and the best concert(s) we’d ever been to sent me on a funny trip down memory lane.

When I was nineteen(ish) my girlfriend called me one Saturday afternoon super-excited because Crowded House were playing in a little old club in Newcastle that night. Now, this was before Crowded House had become a name, but she’d been given the skinny on this band and knew they were going places.

“We have to go!” she told me. “This is a big deal, and it may never happen again.”
“I can’t,” I said glumly. “I promised my cousin that I’d go to the pictures with him.”
“Stand him up! Put him off! Go to the pictures next weekend. You can go to the pictures any time.”
My cousin was far from hip or cool, he’d never been groovy in his life, but he was a sweetheart. “I can’t. I’ve already cancelled on him twice, and I’m not going to do it a third time.”
She harangued and argued and cajoled. But I stood firm.

 
I tell myself that keeping my date with my cousin proves that I’m a good person. But every time I hear a Crowded House song, I shake my head and think You could’ve seen them live! And you know what the worse part is – I can’t even remember what movie it was that we went and saw!

Have you ever had a near miss like this? Tell me the truth, would you have gone to see the band or gone to the movies with Cousin Colin? ;-)

SIX THINGS: READING, WATCHING, LISTENING

by Bronwyn Jameson

Can you believe we’re approaching the halfway point of 2017? Okay, a slight stretch of mathematics but you get my drift. Another year is speeding by, hence, it is time for a catch-up on what’s been occupying my mind...in other words, what I’ve been reading, watching and listening to.

1. I’m starting with “listening to” because I finally delved into Podcasts, following this blog by Stefanie London. My favourite so far is SERIAL, which I found totally addictive if ultimately unsatisfying: that’s the trouble with real life and why I enjoy my fiction with neatly tied, prettily bowed endings. 

2. Speaking of endings, has anyone else seen THEIR FINEST? This movie had so much I loved: the female lead finding her power, the London-WWII setting, the movie-within-a-movie. But then the ending was so aggravating. And pointless (if anyone can explain the point, please do.) Definitely occupied my mind for a considerable time if not in a satisfying way.

3. I started watching the BIG, LITTLE LIES mini-series with some trepidation. I loved Liane Moriarty's book and wasn’t sure the Monterey setting or the casting would work. Very happy to be proved wrong and the brilliant soundtrack has fed my obsession since the series ended. 

4. My current TV fave is the BBC detective drama RIVER, airing on ABC Friday nights. Again, going in I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy this. Woo-woo elements are not my thing, and this series is built around an I-see-dead-people premise. But these characters grabbed me from the opening. Anyone else watching?

5. Naturally I’m watching sport—I am always obsessed with something sports related—and at the moment this is the STANLEY CUP playoffs. I love the speed and skill and intensity of hockey. Oh, and the manly men with beards. What’s not to love?

6. If you haven’t yet done so, you should be READING some of the finalists in the Romance Writers of Australia’s RUBY awards for 2017. Allow me to recommend these bottlers by our super-talented LoveCats, Melanie Milburne and Amy Andrews (writing with her sister Ros Baxter.)

What have you been listening to/watching/reading lately?

Movie Boyfriends

Last Saturday, on the spur of the moment, a girlfriend and I ambled into a local cinema and settled in to watch Bridget Jones’s Baby. Of course it starred Colin Firth as Mark Darcy and Colin Firth is one of my all-time favourite heart-throb-y actors. Happy sighs. And yet Mark Darcy—as much as I enjoy the character—is not one of my all-time favourite movie boyfriends.

On Sunday I stretched out on the sofa and watched the Lord of the Rings movie (again). Aragorn is my favourite hero EVER. And yet Viggo Mortensen, the actor who plays him, doesn’t do a whole lot for me in his other movie roles.

Obviously movie (and TV) boyfriends aren’t so much about the real life actors who play them, but how the fictional character that is being depicted in the movie comes across emotionally on the big screen—and no doubt that’s due in large part to the actor’s art in bringing that character to life.

Of course all of this pondering over popcorn had me reaching for the nearest piece of paper and jotting down a list of my five favourite movie boyfriends of all-time—because I love lists. And I wanted a list of heroes I could imagine sailing off with into the sunset to live happily ever after. This is what I came up with:

Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music
He was my very first movie boyfriend—I fell for him at the tender age of ten when I was allowed to stay up late and watch the movie. He hid a good heart beneath all of that bluster…and his honour and loyalty to his country in the face of Nazi Germany held me spellbound. I thought him soooo courageous. And the fact that he danced with Maria and sang with the children had me melting. :) I could definitely imagining sailing into the sunset (uh, maybe I ought to say setting off over the Alps) with him.

James Hammerton from Sliding Doors (played by John Hannah)
This character is such a combination of fun and sweetness. I fell head over heels for him—he’s kind, he makes the heroine laugh, he never pressures her…plus he’s a Monty Python fan! Seriously, what more could a girl ask for? Well, if she also happened to ask for someone who would challenge her to make her dreams come true, who would give her practical support to help make those dreams come true, and to make her believe that she doesn’t have to settle for second best, then James is your man. Happy, happy sighs.

Henry Tilney from Northanger Abbey (played by JJ Feild)
Jane Austen wrote great heroes. And while Northanger Abbey isn’t one of my favourite of her books, I love this particular movie version—it’s so good-natured and Henry is so utterly likable (which is why he’s a movie boyfriend rather than Hugh Grant’s Edward Ferrars from Sense and Sensibility or Jeremy Northam’s Mr Knightley from Emma). Henry has a sense of fun and a sense of the ridiculous that immediately attracted me to him. He also has to decide whether he can live up to his principles or whether he’ll allow his snob of a father to browbeat him. Of course, he defies his father, all for the love of Catherine, which makes me swoon every time. Yes, that is one man I could VERY easily live happily ever after with.

Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth’s version please)
You know, I love every version of Mr Darcy that I’ve seen—Laurence Olivier’s, Matthew Macfadyen’s—but Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy gives me shivers (of the very best kind ;-) ). In the beginning he’s so arrogant and superior! And then he’s so vulnerable! And then he amends his behavior and tempers his pride and arrogance. And then he rescues Lydia. A man who changes (and sacrifices his pride) all for love. Oh, man, how could Lizzie not fall in love with him? I did. Completely. :)

 Aragorn from Lord of the Rings (played by Viggo Mortensen)
Aragorn is a hero in every sense of the word. He has a destiny to fulfill…and while he is filled with doubts about his own strength, and has little hope that good can prevail over evil, he still gives the quest his all. He’s a man who will fight for good, who will do everything he can to protect those weaker than him, and oh my can that man wield a sword. He faces his every fear and triumphs. He’s not a man who seeks to become king, but it’s a title he certainly earns. Also, he’s hot—seriously hot. I play with scenarios about Aragorn and me. ;-) Honestly, I could write FanFic about this man.

I have this movie poster on my wall. :-)

 So there you have it, my favourite Movie Boyfriends. Do you share any of my faves…or do you have different Movie Boyfriends of your own?

Movie Mojo

I’ve been watching a lot of movies this past month and it’s started me thinking about what I want from a good story. It’s made me analyse the things that work…and some of the things that haven’t worked so well for me.

10 Things I Hate About You
This is one of those “I’ve been meaning to watch it for ages” movies. Part of my reluctance was that it’s based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, which isn’t my favourite Shakespeare play, but fellow LoveCat Rachel Bailey told me it was fab, so I decided to give it a whirl. I’m glad I did!

I love, love, love that they made the heroine vulnerable, and gave her good reason for her cranky, refusing-to-conform attitude. That made the movie for me. Kat was strong and gutsy and her learning-to-trust-again character arc was perfect. I also love that they made her little sister kick-ass too (especially when I thought she was going to be a wuss). Go them!

But the one thing I really, really wanted from the movie? I wanted the hero to have a really good reason for agreeing to a money bribe to get Kat to date him. I wanted him to want/need something so badly that he’d agree to the deception…and then have to sacrifice that want/need to win Kat back.

Strictly Ballroom
I saw this movie when it first came out—BACK IN 1993!!! I still loved the story premise of a character fighting society’s expectations and doing all he can to prove himself. I loved his passion and I loved that he had talent to back that passion up.

So I had no issue with Scott. I thought him a fully rounded character. I loved Fran’s awkwardness, sympathised with her lack of confidence and self-esteem, but I wanted to know more about her. I wanted more background. What gave her the chutzpah to ask the hero to dance with her? And I want that answer to be more than she’s in love with him and wanting him to notice her (though that can certainly be an element). Maybe wanting to live up to the memory of her mother…and wanting her father to be proud of her?

For both of the above movies, I filled in those blanks for myself. ;-)

Australia
I loved the big sweep and broad canvas of this story. I enjoyed the fact that this gave the relationship between the hero and heroine a chance to go through several different mutations—dislike to friendship to becoming lovers. Actually, what I really loved is that they were lovers for a long time…and then broke up. It took them a while to work out what was really important. Once they did, though, they fought for it tooth and nail.

There was one thing I could’ve done without, though, and that was the cute-meet between Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman’s characters. The horror of seeing your undergarments flung about the street? Really? Yawn. Also, why on earth did the hero have to use her suitcases as weapons anyway? Another yawn. That just did nothing for me. In fact, the writers had to work hard to overcome my dislike of that episode. Luckily they were up to the job. ;-)

Case Histories
This series is based on the Jackson Brodie books by Kate Atkinson (who I love…and true love lasts a lifetime). I’ve wanted to watch it for an age. The great delight of this series is that the private investigator Jackson Brodie is such a complicated character. For a start, he can be seriously bad-ass. This is a guy who knows how to protect himself—ex army, ex police—but he’s an utter marshmallow beneath all that when it comes to vulnerable women. He doesn’t even need to like said women—often he actively resists getting sucked into their troubles—which doesn’t work of course and he ends out doing all he can to help them feel safe. The thing is, though, making someone feel safe and sticking to the law can be two very different things, which means our hero sometimes crosses certain ethical lines. This stuff made me think. Hard.

Not all of Jackson’s cases end happily, though, and I’ve found myself absently rewriting a couple of the storylines in my mind to give the people who deserve it their happy ever after.

So…while I’ve loved my mini film festival, I’ve also enjoyed rewriting the scripts to suit myself here and there too. Do you ever do that? And have you been watching any good films lately?

Michelle's latest release - The Millionaire and the Maid - is on the shelves now. :-)

Amazon
Harlequin

Books to Movies

I've been watching quite a few movies lately, and noticed that most of the ones I liked are adaptations from books, which is probably no surprise to readers of this blog. :) Here's a peek into my recent viewing habits:


Mockingjay Part 1
 

Seeing this one at the cinema was a no brainer. And now I'm counting down the days until Part 2 is released!


Howl's Moving Castle

I haven't read this book, but I've wanted to. Now I've seen the movie, I want to read it even more. The imagination in the story is amazing, the characters are gorgeously complex, and the visuals are stunning. 


Divergent

This was an unexpected surprise. Mr Bailey had thought I'd mentioned that I wanted to see it, so he brought it home to watch. Actually, I'd thought it would be too scary for me (I'm a fraidy cat!) and would never have picked it up on my own. Lucky he did, because I loved it.


Two other movies I'm planning on seeing in the near future that are also book adaptations are:

The Hobbit

I've seen the first two Hobbit movies, so I'm hoping that if I'm quick, I'll catch this third one before it leaves the cinemas.


The Fault in Our Stars

I loved Shailene Woodley in Divergent, and I've heard good things about this movie, so I'm keen to see it.


So, have you seen any great movies lately that were adapted from a book (even if they weren't made recently)? Also, what book would you LOVE to see adapted into a movie? I can think of heaps of favourites that I'd love to see on the big screen!
 

At The Movies

After watching the Golden Globes ceremony on Monday, I was inspired to go to the movies yesterday. Since only one of the multi-nominated films was showing at my cinema at the right time, I didn't even have to make a choice of what to see.

August: Osage County.  Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, with a side of Ewen McGregor and Benedict Cumberbatch and Dermot Mulrooney.  How could I go wrong?

Sigh.

Well, okay, in all fairness I didn't fall asleep. (Hard to with all the shouting.)  I didn't walk out.  (I needed to know how it would end.)  The acting performances were full-on amazing (if sometimes I little TOO full-on.) But I had expectations and those high expectations were not met.

1.  I go to the movies seeking entertainment.  That doesn't have to include laughs, doesn't have to be action driven, doesn't have to feature romance and pretty people.  In fact, my preference is for character-driven drama.  This story should have fit like a glove, yet I didn't leave the theatre feeling entertained.

2.  I left the theatre feeling disappointed -- no, that word is not strong enough.  I felt disillusioned, down, borderline depressed.  The ending is...ambiguous.  I guess it could have suggested that one character was making the right choice and heading in the right direction, but I could not see a satisfying ending for any of these deeply flawed people.

3.  The one sister (Ivy) who seemed to be forging a happy future had that rug pulled from under her in a late plot twist which was...wow.  Just wow.  (Did I nod off momentarily and miss the foreshadowing?)

4.  I won't be watching again to see if I missed the subtleties that foreshadowed some of the late big reveals, although I suspect I did.  The thing is, there didn't appear to be much subtlety in the dialogue or the performances.  There wasn't much in the way of quiet moments.  There was very little light shining through the gloom.  There were moments of LOL dark humour -- I think those are all in the trailer! -- but I am truly baffled by the Golden Globes categorising this as a comedy.  I mean REALLY??????

5.  Biggest expectation not met: this is not a comedy.

6.  The screenplay is, I gather, a faithful adaptation of a play (same writer) and it showed.  It was all about the words, the speechifying, the story unfolding dramatic revelation by shouty dramatic revelation.

7.  But when it comes down to it, I just didn't like these people.  Even as I came to understand the motivation, the backstory, I still didn't like them...except for Ivy who deserved a better deal. And in my entertainment, in stories I watch or read, I do want to like somebody and to see people get the ending they deserve.

So, has anyone else seen August: Osage County?  Perhaps you can present the positives and sell this as a must-see movie deserving of the award nominations it is garnering.  Perhaps you can even convince me to see it again to catch the subtleties I missed.

If not this A:OC, have you seen another movie over the holidays that you can recommend?  (I loved Catching Fire, BTW, and enjoyed About Time, which are the only other two I've seen this summer.)

The Second Time Around.

by Helen Lacey

I was watching a early morning news program the other day and saw the wonderful story about an elderly couple, both in their eighties who had just married. Both had been widowed many years before and had met and fallen in love at their retirement home. It was a lovely, romantic story and it got me thinking about some of the novels I've read over the years, or movies I've watched, where one or both characters fall in love even though they never expect to again. You know, the ones where they've had the great love of their life, and once lost, it can never be repeated or replaced.

Sleepless in Seattle, is an example. This is one of my favourite romantic comedies with incredible chemistry between the two main characters (Amazing since they actually only appear in about three scenes together for the entire film) The hero, Sam, lost his wife eighteen months earlier and is trying to keep it together for the sake of his son. In one scene Sam is talking to a radio talk show doctor and she said something that I often think about  - "People who have truly loved once, have a strong chance of falling in love again." Of course the hero of this movie didn't think that was at all possible - until he spotted the gorgeous Annie at the airport, and experienced the 'thing'.

So, the thing of course is the thunderbolt - the love at first or second sight.

The movie Jack & Sarah is another example of love the second time around. Again, the hero has lost his wife in tragic circumstances and thinks he'll never love again. Of course he's wrong, and the journey of how he falls in love with the totally inappropriate nanny is delightful.

Many years ago I read a book by Ruth Wind, called Her Ideal Man. The hero had lost his wife and was raising his son alone. Enter the heroine, a weekend trapped in a snowbound cabin, an unexpected pregnancy and hasty wedding and presto, the makings of a fabulous torchy romance. I love this book. It's one of my keepers and a great example of love the second time around. There's something a little magical reading about a character, particularly a hero, who's sworn off love becuse the great love of his life is gone - but finds himself falling again when he least expects it.

But there are other kinds of second time around love. A elderly friend recently lost her beloved pet - a dog amongst dogs. After having her faithful companion for fourteen years she grieved and swore it was the last dog she would own. She insisted no other dog would ever compare to her treasured pooch. But six months later a new dog came into her life - one she aquired from an animal shelter. So, two hearts saved. My elderly friend now has a young dog and a new lease on life herself. Many years ago I owned a Great Dane called Libby. To me she was the dog of all dogs and I thought would never be replaced in my heart. Until two years ago and my husband brought home an eight week old Dogue De Bordeaux pup (That's him above, soooo cute) His name is Barney and he now weighs over 65kg - and he is awesome.

And the couple who met over bingo at the retirement home? Well, they both said they weren't  looking for love, but it found them anyway. And perhaps that's why second time around themed books and movies have such a huge appeal. They hint of a chance at happiness. They give us hope.

Do you have a favourite second time around movie or book? Or perhaps your own second time around story?