Well as you can see it's still pretty much catch up time which I am totally blaming on all this up and down weather. Like seriously, is it ever going to settle? Having to mix my summer and winter wardrobe together is really not a thing I want to be doing or having to change my plans on a constant roundabout because the weather suddenly decides to change it's mind. Global warming sucks is all I can say.
As for how things are going... well the reading was a bit of a hit and miss last month. Too many hyped up books that just didn't work for me. Am I the only one who didn't like Artemis or The Immortalists? Probably. Which is okay by me even if they were a little disappointing.
Everything else stayed pretty much on target. House sitting done and dusted, movies watched, walking every day achieved... blogs posted... okay that one kind of slipped by but hopefully I'm now back on target. I've even laid out some diary entries and to-do lists which hopefully keep me a little more focused.
Plans for this month then are...
The Worldmaker Trilogy by Lucy Hounson One I am definitely looking forward to getting stuck into. I'm just really hoping there is no romantic triangle because I am totally over them... not that I was ever into them in the first place.
Never Never by James Patterson and Candice Fox I haven't read any James Patterson in ages. Mostly because he seems to churn out books that all seem the same. This one though seems slightly different so I'm curious to see how it goes. I've got the sequel lined up too, just in case. The Death of Captain Jack I've been getting back into audiobooks after having a break for awhile and am seriously looking forward to this one. Because John Barrowman AND James Marsters are in this. How can it not be good.
Gardening I've been a be slack in the gardening department lately. Mostly because I've been busy fighting The Great Aphid War of 2018 and desperately trying to save all my lovely veg from the hungry little things. Now though it looks like I might have won (cross fingers) and I can get stuck in to other gardening matters. Like clearing out a ton of mint that has taken over one corner and turning it into a proper herb garden and weeding and planting some sunflower seeds and weeding again and taking down an old trellis and putting up a nice wooden one and yes more weeding. Again. 365 Movies in 365 Days Yes MORE movie watching. I'm seriously going to regret taking this task on. There may be lots of chocolate involved just to keep me going.
Catching up time so I went with a theme. Cheesy sci-fi films from the 50s and early 60s topped off with something a little more modern. Weirdly for someone who loves sci-fi I actually don't watch that many sci-fi movies, so this was a great chance to catch up on that front too.
The Day the Earth Stood Still Starring: No not the Keanu Reeves one Original release: 1951 Synopsis: An alien ship lands on Earth. Considered something of a classic now. Although what they were trying to convey with that poster I have no idea considering that the movie is more about peace than anything else.
The War of the Worlds Starring: Gene Barry and a woman who screams a lot Original release: 1953 Synopsis: Invaders from Mars
In colour which took me by surprise and despite the leading woman who I'm pretty certain was hired just so she could scream a lot the movie is actually pretty good. The special effects are also kind of cool considering when it was made.
The Day of the Triffids Starring: Howard Keel Original release: 1962 Synopsis: A meteor shower leaves most of the population blind and sees the rise of a new predator. Revenge of the plants. Though sadly I couldn't finish this one was just plain bad.
Forbidden Planet Starring: Leslie Nielsen Original release: 1956 Synopsis: A space ships crew goes to a distant Earth colony to find out what happened to the survivors. Such a good movie. I would totally watch this one again. The special effects are outstanding and there's some serious sexual flirting going on throughout the movie. Personally though I loved Robbie the Robot. I mean how cool is he.
The poster on the other hand... well I certainly don't remember a girl in a bikini.
The Time Machine Starring: Rod Taylor Original release: 1960 Synopsis: A scientist dreams of a utopia. Also surprisingly good. Way better than the remake starring Guy Pearce. Sorry Guy.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Starring: James Mason and Kirk Douglas Original release: 1954 Synopsis: A ship sent to investigate a serious of sinkings encounters a submarine. Kirk Douglas singing. And yep that was me gone. Singing in my sci-fi's just isn't on.
Moon Starring: Sam Rockwell Original release: 2009 Synopsis: Astronaut Sam Bell is counting down the days until he can finish his solitary assignment and return home to Earth.
Never afraid of playing characters that you might not like Sam Rockwell once again plays a character that makes you feel conflicted.
A good movie even if you do figure out what is going on long before the end.
The first of many catchup posts is probably what this should be called. Seriously, I am so far behind I'm not sure I'll ever catch up. But hey I'm on a week's house/dog sitting with not much else to do so you never know. After all I've got a plan and you all know how much I love to stick to a plan.
"Cue pause while you all falling about laughing in disbelief"
Okay now that you've composed yourselves shall we just carry on with the post and the week's viewing from back whenever it was...
Swimming With Men Starring: Pasty white guys. Original release: 2018 Synopsis: A group of middle aged men decide to enter the world champs of synchronised swimming. Men in togs. Middle aged men in togs. Not exactly a look unless you're Idris Elba or Daniel Craig. Still the story is kind of quirky and sweet and Rupert Graves totally rocks the silver fox look. One of those movies you watch without really paying it to much attention.
Red Sparrow Starring: Jennifer Lawrence Original release: 2018 Synopsis: A Russian ballerina is forced to do things she doesn't want to do. Jennifer Lawrence as a spy. Do I need to say anything more? Nope? Cool we'll all on the same page then. Pass on all fronts and watch Jennifer Garner in Alias instead.
Anne of Green Gables The Good Stars Starring: Mmm can't remember but it does have Martin Sheen. Original release: 2017 Synopsis: You all know the story.
Really just a continuation from the previous movie. And yes I still prefer the 80s version.
Venom Starring: Tom Hardy Original release: 2018 Synopsis: Tom Hardy gets taken over by a bug. A really big bug. Actually this wasn't too bad. Mostly because of Tom Hardy. Who as usual brought his A game to the role and did his best with a slightly bad script. The fact that he could make you like the creepy as bug shows how good he is. Watch and enjoy and don't take seriously.
To All The Boys I've Loved Before Starring: Who knows Original release: 2018 Synopsis: A girl's secret love letters get accidentally posted out to her crushes.
Netflex rom-com that hits all the right buttons. Not perfect but still really good. Then again I am a sappy romantic so you just knew I was gonna like this.
Don't tell me. I know. I'm seriously getting behind in all my blog posts which is so not me. Yeah right, we all know it is totally me. What can I say except that my intentions are good even if I let other things distract me a lot of the time.
But whats done is done, now the plan is to get back on track, and in more ways than one.
About the only thing I've managed to keep up with is reading which no surprise there. Even when everything else turns to custard I can still usually manage to read a book or 2... or 3 or 4... As you can imagine this month's plans are all about catching up. Reading The list that seems to never go down. Even worse I recently realised that I have got over 200 ebooks sitting on my hard drive that I haven't even looked at yet. I seriously need to stop browsing book sites and library sites and reading sites and just blogs in general. Because trust me if there is a book mentioned somewhere I'm probably going to want to read it. This month's list then is all entirely from my ebook collection. 6 down out of 200+ is something I guess? Why Mummy Swears by Gill Sims I loved her first book so I'm really looking forward to starting this one. Artemis by Andy Weir Why had I not realised that I a) had in my collection and b) hadn't read it yet. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin And another one that I had meant to read ages ago and somehow forgot all about it. I definitely need to get this ebook collection down to just double digits.
The Little Church by the Sea by Liz Taylorson No idea why I wanted to read this but it's in the collection so out it goes. Maybe it was the Goodreads high rating that twisted my arm. You see how ease it is to persuade me to read something. The Last Laugh by Tracy Bloom Absolutely no idea. So it better be good or I will chunk it in before the end of the first chapter. The Single Girls Calendar by Erin Green I'm pretty sure I've read some other book by this author so that probably why it's in my collection.
365 Movies in 365 Days Major catching up is to be had. Luckily I'm house sitting for a week all on my lonesome so I'll be able to do some serious watching. Eat Better, Get Fit and Be Healthy The walking is actually not going too bad and despite the eating still being a bit up and down I've actually managed to lose a few kilos and have generally tried to make an effort to eat better. Just don't let chocolate anywhere near me. House Sitting I'm off on a weeks house sitting which means I can concentrate on catching up. In between dog walking and plant watering I'll be watching a ton of movies and reading lots of ebooks.
I know. Somewhere along the way everything fell apart. And I now find myself 2 weeks behind in posting anything remotely movie related. I could blame my computer which would mostly be true because yes it decided to play up and make all sorts of weird noises of the not good kind. Not that there is really any good computer noises. So there was that.
There was also the fact that I had to relearn a brand new set of software courtesy of Other Half who installed a new operating system because apparently this would fix the weird noises coming from my computer. Which it did and which still makes no sense to me whatsoever but hell at least everything goes now and my computer is no longer making complaining sounds.
Then there was also a rushed trip to Auckland, a visit from my mother, a few family crises... and well it all came to a grinding standstill. Sometimes life happens and sometimes the brain and the body decide to go on strike and you end up with me curled up on the couch munching my way through a plate of scones and chocolate watching episodes of The Crown, Poldark and A Discovery of Witches on an almost daily basis. Sometimes the only way to deal is to hibernate and wait for it to all pass on by. Still I have managed to watch some movies during said hibernation so it wasn't all a complete wash out.
Destination Wedding Starring: Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder Original release: 2018 Synopsis: Frank and Lindsay
attend a destination wedding. They
meet and, over the course of the weekend and against all odds, find
themselves drawn to one another.
Basically this is just Keanu and Winona talking. Even during sex. Which is actually kind of funny.
Totally my kind of movie about two slightly weird and quirky people who really don't like people that much and who somehow find themselves united in their aloneness.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Starring: Billy Nighy, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith Original release: 2011 Synopsis:British retirees travel to India to take up residence in what they
believe is a newly restored hotel. Less luxurious than advertised, the
Marigold Hotel nevertheless slowly begins to charm in unexpected ways.
I've actually seen this before but couldn't remember much about it and as I wanted to watch the sequel also I decided that I might as well watch them back to back.
One of those gentle films that the Brits do so well.
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Starring: Judi Dench. Bill Nighy, Richard Gere Original release: 2015 Synopsis: Sonny pursues his
expansionist dream of opening a second hotel.
The Bollywood dancing was really good. Which pretty much sums up this movie. Watchable but not memorable.
Anne of Green Gables Starring: Martin Sheen Original release: 2016 Synopsis: You know the story... I'd heard good things about this new version and being a Green Gables fan I just had to watch it. Overall pretty good but I still prefer the version from the 80s.
To The Bone Starring: Lily Collins and Keanu Reeves Original release: 2017 Synopsis:A young woman dealing with anorexia meets an unconventional doctor who challenges her to face her condition and embrace life.
A harrowing story but one that needs to be told.
The Meg Starring: Jason Statham Original release: 2018 Synopsis: A 70 feet shark goes munch munch munch Don't blame me. Other Half picked this and I just went with the flow.
Seriously bad and kind of funny because of that. Probably not what the makers of this mess intended. You have been warned.
I'm really trying not to spend too much this year particularly on myself. Which of course is always hard because of so many things that are out there tempting me with whispered words of "buy me" and "you know you want to" all in the sexy voice of Richard Armitage because yes my head likes to torment me even further.
But I am being strong *cue sobbing* and resisting all the pretties *even more sobbing* and telling Richard that he can take his seductive tones elsewhere... okay maybe not the last bit but you get my meaning.
The resistance is so far paying off as I spent just $5 dollars this month on myself. And it was on something practical which makes it perfectly justified. Right? So what did I buy...
Yates Garden Planner - $5 from TradeMe
I've mentioned before that I just had to have this book and since buying it I have already been using it heaps.
Practical and useful... how awesome and frugal of me.
As for August last year?
I spent absolutely nothing. August seems to be the month for me being frugal. Can I keep up the good work for next month? We'll just have to see.
We can ignore the horror that is Gone With The Wind and pretty much say that it was Bogart all the way in this week's viewing. Who knew that a short, middle age man with the face that's done a few rounds with a boxer could ooze that sexy bad boy vibe so well. I am now a total convert and lovin' all things Bogie. Now I just need to erase the memory that is Gone With The Wind.
Gone With The Wind Starring: Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh Original release: 1939 Synopsis: The spoiled daughter of a plantation owner uses every means possible to get what she wants.
Nope, nope and nope. Seriously. This is the worse. Unpopular opinion that it is.
I just wanted to strangle Scarlett who really is just a bitch, slap both Melanie and Ashley who were total wimps and deserved each other and shoot Rhett who is a total rapist. This is not romance and none of these character are at all likable. Totally dysfunctional people who make you want to run a mile in the other direction.
Casablanca Starring: Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman Original release: 1942 Synopsis: A cynical nightclub owner protects an old flame and her husband from Nazis in Morocco.
Now this I liked. So much better than the previous movie that's it's not even in the same league. Intrigue, romance, bromance and Nazis'. What's not to love.
The acting was pretty great too. One I would definitely watch again.
The Maltese Falcon Starring: Humphrey Bogart Original release: 1941 Synopsis:A private detective takes on a case that involves him with criminals, a beautiful woman and a quest for a priceless
statuette.
My kind of movie in every way.
More great acting and lots of twist and turns. Another one I would watch again.
To Have and Have Not Starring: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall Original release: 1944 Synopsis: A charter boat skipper gets mixed up with the underground French resistance during WWII.
Maybe I should just stick to Bogart movies in future. Because once again this was really good. Easy to see why Bogart and Bacall married after making this film together.
The Big Sleep Starring: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall Original release: 1946 Synopsis: Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a rich family and becomes involved in murder and blackmail, and what might be
love.
Yeah it's Bogart again. And yeah it's good. What can I say except I have a thing. I also iked the glasses wearing Acme bookshop girl who was awesome in every way (she's my new idol) and more than an equal match for Bogart. Now this pair had chemistry sizzling off the screen. Just watch the clip below.
After all that there is also men doing bad things, an aloof and snooty daughter, a slutty and possible bat shit crazy daughter and Marlowe aka Bogie caught in the middle of it all.
