Do They Make Good Movies Anymore?

I like to watch Fox news sometimes. One of my favorite shows is The O'Reilly Factor, which comes on weekdays at eight 0' clock prime time. The host, Bill O'Reilly has lots of interesting guests, debates, and strong opinions. I agree with most of his viewpoints, but not all of them. My main reason for liking his show is that he presents the news honestly, with no slanting to the left or right, and he covers stories big and small that I would never hear about on other news channels. Last week, during one of his guest segments, he asked the man's opinion about the just-released Oscar nominations. I thought he had something really interesting to say. He talked about how gory, dismal, gross, etc, all the films were that were nominated this year. I had never even heard of any of the movies. He said (I'm paraphrasing) that the only movies that get made these days are scary horror flicks and that there just isn't any place for the fun B-grade movies that people loved years ago. He mentioned 1939, the biggest movie year in history, when Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (everybody should see Mr. Smith -- it is one of the best movies ever!) were all nominated for Oscars and how none of those movies would make it today.



Unfortunately, he was right. Most of the movies made today are all scary, blood, and grossness. When I see the commercials for these, I wish they made more movies like they did back in the fifties. Even when movies of nice books like Jane Austen's are made, they have to throw in a bad scene or two. I don't watch a lot of new movies. Before I go see one, I read about it at Plugged-In Online to make sure I want to see it. I have found a few new movies lately that are good. I'll have to post about them sometime, but my favorite movies are mostly the old ones. Alfred Hitchcock did several suspense/thrillers that are good without all the blood and grossness. There are so many great romantic comedies in black-and-white: Father of the Bride, Roman Holiday, Mr. Blandings Build His Dream House, to name just a few. Then there are the old musicals, the westerns, and the historical dramas. They just don't make movies like those anymore. That's why I like having a classic movie channel. ;)

Baking cookies

I decided to bake some peanut butter cookies this afternoon. I found a recipe online a few years ago and it has become one of our favorites. My mom even likes these cookies and she doesn't like peanut butter cookies in general! They are so simple to make and require just a few basic ingredients. That's another reason why I like to make these cookies -- I can always be sure of finding everything I need in the cabinet and not have to worry if we have enough butter, etc.

Simply combine the flour, baking powder and salt in one bowl. Cream the peanut butter, sugars, shortening, and egg in another bowl. When they are combined, stir the flour in gradually. I don't even have to mix it anymore!!
I always line the baking sheets with parchment or wax paper. It saves me the trouble of greasing the pan and scrubbing it later. Roll the dough into balls about 3/4 inch, then flatten with a fork. I like to keep these cookies pretty small. They cook faster and make more that way. Finished!! My favorite way to eat these is fresh from the oven, when they are really hot. :)

Northanger Abbey

Last night, I watched Northanger Abbey. I was really looking forward to seeing this because I have just finished reading the book and learned to like it very much. In the book, Catherine is a young girl obsessed with Gothic novels. She loves them. They are pretty much all she thinks about. Jane Austen wrote the book in a sarcastic, humorous kind of way to make fun of girls who let themselves get so caught up in silly novels. Anyway, Catherine is invited by her neighbors to travel to Bath with them and she, of course, can't wait to set out on this adventure. While in Bath, she becomes friends with a silly, shallow girl named Isabella and her brother John. Catherine quickly learns to dislike him. She also meets Henry Tilney and his sister Elinor. Their father invites Catherine to visit them at their home so she goes to stay at Northanger Abbey.

There were some parts of the movie that I didn't appreciate -- for a review that covers all the scenes click here (including one scene that was not shown on my station - PBS must have edited that one out). If they had left out the passage from a book Catherine reads aloud and removed one other scene, this movie would have been a great adaptation of the book. I thought the actors were all great for their roles. Catherine was exactly as I pictured her and her dresses were beautiful.

To sum it up, I liked most of the movie and the actors were great. Ninety-five percent of the time, it was a really fun, sweet movie. I just wish director Andrew Davies hadn't felt the need to "embellish" a simple story so much. I find that really annoying. It isn't necessary and it doesn't improve the story at all.

Australian Open 2008

Most of the people who know me know I'm a tennis fan. I like to watch tennis a lot. I may not play that great, but it's really neat to watch the professionals who know the game so well play on TV (or in person!). The Australian Open has been going on for the last two weeks and will finish on Saturday or Sunday. I never can figure out time difference. It has been a great tournament. A tournament starts out with 64 player in the first round, then the second round is narrowed down to 32, then 16, etc, all the way to the final two who will play for the championship. Usually the first round matches are boring, because top-ranked players will be matched against low-ranked players and the games end up being completely one-sided. Sometimes I barely watch the tournaments until the second week, when the top players begin colliding. That has not been the case in this tournament. From the beginning, nearly every game has been exciting. The top players have been pushed to their limits by challengers and barely making it through. The men's championship is set: number three player in the world Novak Djokavic, who beat number one player in the world Roger Federer to get to the final, and up-and-comer French player Tsonga who has beaten several top players. It's going to be interesting to see who wins!!

Vision Forum $100 Passport

Vision Forum is giving one of the readers of the Biblical Womanhood blog a $100 passport for any of the products on their website. They sell lots of great books, CDs, and DVDs. Click here http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm to learn more and enter!!

When I woke up, we had SNOW!!!

The ground was covered. The trees were white. I was planning on going outside this afternoon, braving the freezing temperatures, to take some pictures. After all, this was first real accumulation we've had all winter. We decided to go the library to return some books before lunch and go to the grocery store. By the time we came back, almost all the snow had melted. Tell me, how does anything melt in 30 degree weather?

Persuasion -- the movies

I finally got to watch the new Masterpiece Theatre version of Persuasion Thursday night. I rented the old version with Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root from the library so I could watch it first and compare the two. It has been years since I have seen the old version because I didn't like it the first time I saw it. I liked it much better this time. The storyline seems to drag in some places and go by too quickly in others -- if I hadn't read the book, I wouldn't have known who most of the characters were. At first, Ciaran Hinds didn't seem to fit the book's description of a handsome young sailor, but I got used to him and enjoyed his portrayal of Captain Wentworth. Amanda Root as Anne was harder for me to get used to.

When I watched the new version, I saw the good things about the old version a lot better. Amanda Root, though she made it plain that she lived with heartache, was a living character that touched people's lives and sought to make the best of her life. In the new version, Anne (don't know the actress's name) hardly said a word and seemed to live in a daze. All her feelings were shown to us through watching her write in her journal. I did appreciate some scenes that really showed her "anguish of heart", but she had no personality. Most of all, she had the worst hairstyle I've ever seen in a Regency movie. It looked like she'd dunked her head in water and put it up while it was dripping wet, but it never dried through the entire movie. Ugh. Captain Wentworth was okay. I've heard other reviews say he looked too "pretty" to have been at sea for ten years. I did like in this movie that the secondary characters' roles were clearer, her sisters' personalities were more true to the book, and the beginning of the story is explained clearly enough that you aren't left in confusion.

Final verdict: I like both versions. The Ciaran Hinds version is slower and quieter. The newer version is more dramatic with better filming. I'll be watching both again. :)

Show and Tell Friday

Kelli's blog hosts Show and Tell Friday every week. Click to see more: http://kellishouse.blogspot.com/



My show and tell this week is my collection of antique and "antique-looking" books. Since I love to read, I have acquired quite a collection of books over the years -- hardback, paperback, softback, illustrated-in-full-color -- you name it, I've got at least one. When we discovered a couple of used books stores not far from our house, I found my favorite kind -- antique books. The ones above are my purchases from those stores. Not all of them are practical. I made the mistake of reading the pink Anna Karenina and the spine cracked, but the pages are the perfect kind of distressed, the type is the perfect size, and, most of all, the covers are beautiful with ornate gold filigree. They probably don't count as "true" antiques, but they are definitely replicas of the original first editions. I think most of them are about fifty years old.
Now this book is a true antique. My friend gave this to me for my high school graduation. The cover is beautiful and all the pages are in excellent condition. This is one my of favorite books, for the story and the book itself!
These are my "antique-looking" books. They are new reproductions made to look old.
These two are gifts from Christmas. The Pilgrim's Progress is the size of a family Bible and contains many beautiful color illustrations.

And this is my complete Jane Austen collection. It is really large, too, but I love the original illustrations and the elegant look.

So this is collection of books. I hope to add to it every year. What would I like to find next? An antique Ben-Hur, any Dickens work, and War and Peace.

I was only supposed to vacuum the living room....

Then I discovered that someone had taken the vacuum cleaner upstairs. That was the incentive I needed to get my room cleaned up. Funny, isn't it, how a little thing like not wanting to drag the vacuum up the stairs can keep me from cleaning my room. My room needed it, too. I cleaned it up thoroughly just before Christmas, but after I got my new desk, I moved all my furniture around, stacked books here and there, and left the plastic packaging where it fell. Not to mention the fact that I had also accumulated quite a few tags on top of my dresser from my new clothes. It really felt messy in there, but there just wasn't any use in cleaning it until somebody took the vacuum upstairs for me. Well, when I discovered the vacuum was upstairs, I decided I had to get that room cleaned up. It didn't take too long. All I really had to do was throw away the tags and packaging I had left before, dust, and find homes for some of my new books. Oh, and vacuum. Then I lugged the heavy thing downstairs and finally vacuumed the living room and dining room.

Healthy Eating, Exercising...It isn't fun

One of my goals for this year was to start eating healthier. I hoped I would be able to make a lot of changes right away and stick to them. Well.....things haven't gone quite as planned. I am incorporating little things again into my daily habits. I only drank one Dr. Pepper last weekend (compared to my usual 3-4) and I have been choosing healthy sandwiches for lunch. I still haven't curbed my craving for sweet stuff. Of all the challenges in the healthy eating/dieting world, that is the hardest one for me. I love sweets. One thing I really want to do is cut back on the sugar. Another thing I want to do is start drinking green tea again (unsweetened). So that's what I want to work on for the next week or two.

I have managed to make exercise part of my everyday routine again. During warm weather, I exercise everyday, go for long walks, play tennis -- stay pretty active in general. When the weather is cold, though, I don't want to do any of it. I even hate working out on my home gym during winter. It's ridiculous, I know, to use cold weather as an excuse not to work out indoors, but I just really don't like it. So, I had to make up my mind at the first of the year that I was going to exercise everyday and I have kept it up pretty well. I checked out some exercise DVDs from the library and I have started lifting light weights on my gym again. It's still not fun, but it's not anywhere as bad as I try to make myself believe it is. Anybody else trying to eat right and exercise this year?

National Treasure

We went to the movies to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets today. The first National Treasure is a great movie, so we were hoping that the sequel would at least be nearly as good. I actually liked it pretty well. Sometimes sequels are overdone, with exaggerated plots and characters to try to make the old story interesting again. This one had an interesting story on its own and built upon the first movie well. There were a few action scenes that were overdone, a car chase in particular, but I still thought it was good. The biggest flaw with the movie was that the main characters, Ben and Abigail, had been living together since the story left off in the last movie and had broken up at the beginning of this one. They left it open for a third movie at the end, but it would probably be better if they left it alone. After two times, the same story can get old.

The first National Treasure is definitely the better of the two. In that one, Ben is searching for hidden treasure by clues on old documents and historical monuments. One of my favorite things about the movie (and the second one, too) is how they highlight so many historical documents and places, making you really look at them for details you never noticed before. I always want to go to Washington and all the other historical places in America when I watch these movies. Wouldn't it be neat to see the Declaration of Independence in person? I think so. Anyway, I definitely recommend the first movie.

Color Seasons

A message board that I read started an interesting discussion about the book Color Me Beautiful this week. Well, it's interesting if you find things like color palettes interesting. :) The idea of this book is that taking a person's complexion, hair color, and eye color into consideration, you can classify them into one of four seasons -- Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter -- with their own unique palette of colors that they look best in. Spring has light, bright colors like citruses and corals, Summer has soft pastels and blues, Autumn has earth-tones with oranges and browns, and Winter has vivid, bright colors and black.

I read this book when I was about twelve and used to follow "my colors" to the letter. I mix things up a little bit now, but I still stay in the basic outline of my color palette. Because I am a Winter, I only wear "cool" colors with a blue undertone, but I do wear a few Summer colors now, especially light blue. I also like chocolate brown a lot, but I never wear tan or orange.

This is a really good book to use as a guideline when you go shopping. There are even some good make-up tips in it, but take into consideration that the book was written in the early nineties, so some of the make-up is a little outdated. Even though it's the recommended color for Winters, magenta lipstick just isn't a good thing anymore! So, I can use the tips that pink tones are best for my blush and lipstick, but in more natural colors. Here is a quiz to see which season you are. Some of the questions seemed stupid to me, but the result was Winter, so maybe it works!

What type of color season are you? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Winter You are a Winter! See FLAREgamer for more details on which type of Winter you are. Winter 58% Autumn 50% Summer 33% Spring 17%

Reagan Quotes

http://www.boundlessline.org/2008/01/reagans-quotes.html



Boundless blog had a neat post with lots of different quotes from Ronald Reagan today. My favorite is the one about Thomas Jefferson.

My Latest Reference Photos.........

We'll have to see how the drawings turn out. :)

Springtime in January

The weather was so nice today. It was actually warm with just a little bit of a cool breeze. I spent this morning working on some new drawings, but after lunch I had to go for a walk. I had put Princess outside to play for the first time in a long time. When I went out to walk, she was so happy and excited that I got her leash out and took her with me. During the summer, she hates to go for a walk worse than anything, but she practically begged to go today. It was so nice to be outside for a change.

I enjoyed working at my new drafting table a lot. It was great to have all my art supplies organized, right at my reach, and to be able to see my drawing and my reference photo at one time. The desk lamp has been an aggravating issue. I got one kind of lamp to go with the desk for Christmas, but when my dad helped me put it on, there was no way it would work. This kind of desk lamp comes with a clamp that attaches to the table and then you set the lamp into the clamp. What it doesn't have is a way for the lamp to stay in the clamp. It swung around and crashed into the wall on one side, then swung forward and fell out. The manufacturer didn't provide instructions, either. We tried several times to make it work, but it was just impossible. We took it back to the store this week and I picked another one with a built-in magnifying glass. This one is a lot sturdier than the other, but any sudden movements near it will send the lamp swinging into the wall. Oh well. The light works, that's the important thing.

I'm also trying to finish Persuasion before the movie debuts next week. I like the story a lot and can't wait to see the movie. The old version with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds really needed an update.

And so....

I know I haven't posted very much lately. I have had a really bad cold. I caught it on Christmas day and haven't been able to get rid of it. Pretty much all I have done is sit around in my new penguin pajamas and read my Jane Austen book, feeling miserable. Anyway, I think I'm finally getting a little better.

I re-read two of Jane Austen's lesser known books Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park in the last week. It has been years since I read either of them and, since there aren't any good movie adaptations of them, I had forgotten most of the story lines of each. From what I remembered of the last time I read them, I didn't really like Northanger Abbey, but Mansfield Park had been one of my favorite Austen works. After reading them this time, I changed my mind. I actually liked Northanger Abbey very much. I think it was one of Austen's earlier works, not as complicated or detailed as her others, but I enjoyed it a lot. I still liked Mansfield Park and still consider it among my three favorites, but I was really disappointed in the "hero" of the story, Edmund Bertram. It's not that I expect "heroes" to be perfect -- Mr. Darcy is my favorite and he had plenty of flaws -- but by the end of the story Edmund didn't seem to be much different than the men who had been given shallow characters in order to make his brilliance stand out. And yet, he was supposed to be just as wonderful and brilliant at the end of the book as at the beginning. I wasn't impressed.

Anyway, for the next three months, PBS is broadcasting a Jane Austen series. Masterpiece Theatre has come out with several new movies -- Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility, and Miss Austen Regrets, a biopic. They are suppose to air on your local PBS stations every Sunday for the next few months, but when I checked my local listings, I wasn't sure if that was the case here or not. I'm really looking forward to seeing adaptations of the books I just read. Maybe Edmund will seem better in a movie than he did in the book!

First post in 2008

It's snowing for the first time this winter!!