December Movie Reviews

***** Exceptional
****   Great
***     OK
**       Tolerable
*         Horrible



Aloft with Jennifer Connelly was about illness and death and healing and trauma and...snow. Lots of snow. Too much snow. It was very abstract and slow. I kept hoping it was going to make some profound statement, but one never came amidst the spacey, over dramatization of events. **

Blind Date with Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, both actors I adore. This movie was exceptionally slow and boring about a married couple who role play blind dates. I lasted about 20 minutes before turning it off. I just didn't see where it was going. *

The Duff is a high school comedy about being a DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend). Now, I totally relate because I was a DUFF in junior high. Boys were always buzzing around my cute, skinny friends and I was on the outside looking in OR used by those boys to get the skinny (pun intended) on the girls. I was usually invisible while they were getting dates or making out less than five feet away from me as I sat there pretending I didn't exist. Being a DUFF is a sad situation, I know, but this movie was honest, sweet, with a good lesson on how to survive bullying. I liked it and I thought the [unknown] actors had exceptional comedic timing which made it not stupid and not boring. ***

The Elephant King is about two brothers who are fairly messed up in their own individual ways. One is living in Thailand on some kind of grant although the university is suing him for fraud. He drinks all night, sleeps all day, cavorts with prostitutes, and when he runs out of money, he boxes for some cash. The younger brother just got out of a mental hospital where he was under observation after attempting suicide. He goes to Thailand to visit and falls in love with a prostitute. It's all pretty messed up about family dynamics. The younger brother is played by Tate Ellington who I like. ****

Friends with Benefits with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis is a sweet love story about two people who are tired of the games of love and they just want sex without all the drama. Their relationship is honest and awesome. Why do we play so many games which only screws everything up? ***

The Homesman is about an unmarried pioneer woman (Hilary Swank) who sets out in a jail wagon to take three women back east to their families who have gone insane due to the hardships of westward life. She comes across a man (Tommy Lee Jones) who was left lynched to a tree and agrees to cut him down if he will accompany her. The cast includes other notables like Meryl Streep, James Spader, John Lithgow and Hailee Steinfeld. A really great movie. Outstanding photography. So beautiful. Excellent performances. I'm surprised I've never heard of this movie before I saw previews on another DVD. It has a weird, unexpected shift in the plot which was a little discombobulating, but that shake-up made it that much more interesting as it didn't follow the typical Hollywood formula we expect. Great story. *****

Insurgent is the second installment of the Divergent trilogy featuring Tris Prior [Shailene Woodley] who rebels against the evil Jeanine [Kate Winslet] in an action-packed drama about a futuristic, walled civilization where people are separated into factions according to personality in order to assure peace in the society. It would be cool to be a divergent. Lots of action, lots of superhero-ness, cute boys, and a little romance. Loved it and Woodley's new short do. ****

Jimmy's Hall based on a true story about an Irish rebel newly returned from American after a ten year hiatus after being forced to leave due to nonconformist behavior in 1922. He re-opens his community hall so the people can come to dance, sing, box, read literature, and learn. The church hates it claiming Jazz is the Devil and education (even community recreation classes) must be preapproved to maintain the sanctity of the people. The priest claims they are all going to hell. LOL. The powers-that-be (church and nobility) band against Jimmy and the people fight back. Beautiful Irish scenery, lovely photography and they ride around on horse-drawn hay wagons. The thick Irish accents were a little difficult to understand. I would have preferred a better ending. It just kind of leaves one hanging without any closure. ***

Lambert and Stamp is a documentary about the rock band the Who and the two guys who managed them. Lots of archival film footage which is fun. The reason there is so much footage is Lambert and Stamp's initial idea was to find a rock band, make a film about them, and that film would be their break into the movie industry. They had no idea the band would cause such a sensation. I've never really known much about the Who so this was fascinating. ****

Last Love is a movie about grieving. I love movies about death. Michael Caine plays a widower living in Paris who meets a sweet young dance teacher who befriends him. He reminds her of her father who died and she reminds him of his dead wife when she was young. The views of Paris and the countryside are spectacular. It's always fascinating to me how films can hide all the dirt of a city and make it look like the cleanest, most unpolluted urban paradise on the face of the earth. Great movie. ****

Love and Mercy is about Brian Wilson, genius of the Beach Boys. It flips back and forth between those middle years of the Beach Boys success when he was just plain crazy and later years when he was over medicated and kept prisoner by his greedy, controlling therapist. Paul Giamatti plays the scary therapist and John Cusack plays the older Wilson. Both are brilliant. Great music. ***

Mommie Dearest with Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford is based on the autobiography by Ms. Crawford's adopted daughter. Lots of child abuse which was really disturbing, but beautiful costumes and a great story. I saw this movie when it came out in 1981 and it was just as disturbing then. Now it's a cult movie, viewed as a comedy. As I was watching it I kept thinking Boy, Faye Dunaway is really over acting, but in reality she was being Joan Crawford who was notoriously flamboyant. It's no wonder it ended up being a cult film, but it's still a great story. ****

Nicholas Nickleby is a novel by Charles Dickens featuring a very young and dashing Charlie Hunnam (of Fifty Shades of Gray fame) (I didn't even recognize him) (not that I saw Fifty Shades of Gray) (not to say I won't see Fifty Shades of Gray) (but I thought the book was horrid), Anne Hathaway, Christopher Plummer and a cast of well-known actors. There is an advantage to senility...this movie looks really familiar so I have a feeling I've seen it, but because I hardly remembered it, it was a pleasure to watch again! Love the language and the horror and the humor of Dickens' classics. I can only imagine how loved they must have been when first published and they continue to be timeless delights in any media. Good stories are difficult to screw up. *****

The Physician is a wonderful movie about early medieval medicine. The gorgeous Tom Payne plays the kid turned barber's assistant after his mother dies from an incurable "side sickness" (appendicitis?). He grows into a strapping young man then travels to Persia to learn "real" medicine from a Jewish master. It was an outstanding movie. I love historical fiction and this didn't disappoint. A little drama, a little wartime violence, a little romance, and lots of great sets and costumes. It almost makes one appreciate modern-day medicine. At least doctors don't take saws and cut off appendages without anesthesia or feed scared and helpless patients dog vomit as a cure. ****

Ride stars Helen Hunt playing a very protective mother who follows her college-drop-out son to Los Angeles and learns to surf. The story was OK, nothing spectacular. I think Hunt had too much make-up on or maybe she's just too skinny, but her face seemed very angular, weathered, and pinched. Her voice was unnaturally monotone, but maybe it's always like that and I've never noticed. Usually I like her in movies, but this time it just didn't feel very believable. ***

Santa Clause 2  Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas. It's the sequel to The Santa Clause with Tim Allen. In this one Santa has to find a wife by Christmas Eve or he stops being Santa. It's cute. The elves are adorable as is Lucy. Reindeer fart if they eat too much sugar. Kids would love it. ***

Testament of Youth is about World War I, based on the memoirs and book of the same name by Vera Brittain. Beautiful English countryside scenes, ugly war scenes, great acting. It's very melodramatic and romantic like WWI movies usually are. Jon Snow from Game of Thrones plays the heartthrob although I have to say I think he's sexier all wrapped in animals skins with a scruffy beard, long curly hair and a wolf at his heels. I hardly recognized him clean shaven and smiling. It was a little disturbing. ****

What If  features Daniel Radcliffe and the adorable Zoe Kazan as friends. He's given up on love due to his cheating ex-girlfriend and she's in a relationship. Their friendship becomes very close. It's that popular theme where the relationship develops naturally, honestly and comfortably instead of everyone pretending to be someone they aren't causing all kinds of drama. She's an animator so there are little cartoons around her when she is thinking? dreaming? I'm not sure the point of the cartoons. I would have liked them to be more than a random after thought of decoration, but maybe that's because I thought they were so awesome. The dialogue is delightfully witty and the story is charming. The only thing I didn't like about it was the title. ****

Where I Am is a documentary film about Robert Drake, a gay writer who was brutally beaten and left for dead while living in Ireland. He suffered brain damage which contributes to mobility and speech impairments. It's an atrocity the two young men who nearly killed him received only eight years in prison. They destroyed his life and career and they are walking around free enjoying their lives. It's so wrong. I would prefer "an eye for an eye" justice. On his visit back to Ireland ten years later, he tried to meet with the men, but they refused. Cowards. ****

The Pregnant Pause

Pregnant women stink. They smell like rancid milk. So I certainly understand their ignorant desire to bathe in perfume without any consideration for the health of their unborn child. People are stupid and pregnancy doesn't make them smarter.

Pregnancy can make some women very sensitive to fragrances and smells of any kind and they become temporarily chemically sensitive. Their bodies are working properly attempting to protect their unborn child from danger. Unfortunately, my latest encounter with a pregnant stinker was of the stupid variety, not the protective variety.

I was at the food co-op. A safe place filled with wholesome foods and health-conscientious employees. I've been shopping there for over ten years with very few exposure problems. I could smell her twenty feet away. It took me about one second to realize I was about to be poisoned, another second to turn and identify from where it was attacking, and another second to get the hell out of the air space. Three seconds too long and one too many whiffs of her toxicity. I headed to the other side of the store, watched the aisles closely all the while adjusting my proximity waiting impatiently for her to leave.

One of the volunteer-workers was watching me, came up behind me, and asked sweetly if I needed any help. I'm sure with the panic all over my face I LOOKED like I needed help.

"No, I'm just waiting for one of your customers who is bathed in perfume to leave the store." Clearly I was pissed off.

"Oh, I can't stand the smell of perfume. It makes me sick." she replied.

"It's toxic and deadly. And she's pregnant. Why would anyone subject their unborn child to such poisons?"

WHY indeed? Why does she bother buying and eating healthy, organic food if she is dousing herself on the outside with poison? It defies logic. If I could have gotten close to her, I might have asked her. I asked this question when actress Halle Berry was pregnant and promoting her perfume on talk shows. Are these women really that stupid?

The pregnant stinker wandered the aisles pausing too often to fill her shopping basket totally unaware of the effect she has on everyone's air quality and totally oblivious to the shopper glaring at her from a distance. The one whiff of her poison made my head spin uncomfortably and stomach lurch with nausea. It took her about fifteen minutes to leave the store and another fifteen minutes for the ventilation to clear the stink. It took me three days to heal from the subsequent migraines, nausea, and fatigue.

There should be laws against the stupidity.

Celebration!

My winter project is finished, and it's barely even winter!

The table has a very interesting history. I have no idea how old it is although the hardware indicates it's at least forty to fifty years old. It was painted a lovely 1970s lime green and orange by the mother of my best friend from childhood. When my best friend moved out of state, her parents couldn't afford to pay the rent they owed and left the table along with other furniture. My family moved into her rental house, inherited the furniture, and eventually bought the house. We had this little table in our bathroom for at least twenty years. I always referred to it as "Lori's Table." *

When I moved out, I needed a kitchen table. "Why don't you take that crappy, old table in the bathroom?" OK! Nineteen-seventies color schemes were not popular in the 1990s so I had it stripped and it has been sitting bare for all these years waiting for inspiration. For too long it was the only furniture in the house not painted, taunting me, begging for some cheerfulness. I was also afraid I wouldn't be able to repair it properly (it had cracks, gouges, holes, and missing hardware) and I worried if I painted it, it would become unusable like my other kitchen table. That might happen, but after painting the polka-dot chair, I just couldn't resist a polka-dot table to match.

It's called Celebration!

This photo distorts the color, but you can see how the top fold out.

The panels are actually blue, teal, and purple, not purple, teal and pink.
The color in the photo below is accurate.

With Confetti the chair

I love living like it's a party!

Oh! And Merry Christmas to everyone...ho! ho! ho!

* I sent Lori photo of the newly painted Celebrate table and she said it used to be in her brother's room which was decorated lime-green and orange.

Apple Crisp Poisoning

Nearly a year ago right at Christmas I discovered several dessert recipes almost compliant with the Paleo Diet with a Hashimoto's Twist. One of them was a glorious apple crisp recipe that maybe found under "apple crisp" in the index to the right.  It was healthy yet deliciously spiced with cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Around the same time I read that cinnamon lowers blood sugar. Well! As any proud American will tell you, if a little is good for you then a lot must be spectacular! This mindset is part of our capitalistic worldview. I began overindulging on this delectable and piling on the spices in lieu of sugar. What's not perfect about a sugar-free dessert filled with goodness as well as medicinal spices?  I thought I died and went to heaven.

Apple Crisp with Spices

A month later I began experiencing a sharp pain in my upper left abdominal area. The one stab pain every two weeks or so was tolerable...until a few months later when it didn't go away. For two hours the pain remained accompanied by a burning sensation through my chest area and excruciating back pain. I panicked.

Subsequently, I spent too much money on doctors who wanted me to spend more money on labs. Fear always makes one stupid. The stool test showed microscopic bleeding and my pancreas was not digesting fats. The blood labs showed kidney failure. The gastroenterologist ordered $3,000 worth of more tests. Not one doctor asked about my diet. Were these lab results connected to the abdominal pain and were they indicative of something serious?

The pain accompanied by burning and slight nausea became more frequent. I tried to track it with the foods I was eating, but few foods produced immediate side effects. The more frequent the symptoms, the more apparent it might be the apple crisp. Was something in the apple crisp causing the pain?  I decided to stop eating it to see if it would make a difference and after a few days all pain went away leaving a slight pressure reminding me it wasn't totally gone yet.

At the same time I started searching the internet for clues. Pancreatic insufficiency creating a lack of digestive enzymes can be caused by lifestyle habits such as junk food, sugar, alcohol, coffee or smoking. Hmmm...I don't do any of those. It can also be caused by gallstones blocking the bile ducts. I've never had a gallstone in my life, but I wouldn't rule it out. It can also be caused by pancreatic cancer. I hope not, but my blood labs aren't indicative of cancer. Pancreatic support involves taking pancreatic enzymes, or drugs, something I cannot do. Food sources for lipase, the enzyme I need, is avocados. I eat avocados daily so this didn't make sense.

It took me too long to connect the possible health issues with the spices. How can these simple, everyday cooking ingredients cause health problems? I guess that's like asking how can everyday products with fragrances cause health problems. I came across several articles warning readers of the side effects of common spices.

For instance, cardamom can create gallstones because our bodies do not absorb cardamom so easily. Whoa! Cinnamon does lower blood sugar which is the medicinal benefit, but too much cinnamon can cause LIVER and KIDNEY DAMAGE! One particular article stated one should never eat more than one teaspoon of cinnamon a day. As I said before, I was piling on the cinnamon, at least a tablespoon per recipe! Overdoses of nutmeg can not only cause sluggishness and miscarriages, but hallucinations! There are lots of documented cases of nutmeg overdoses and as a inexpensive high, drug-experimenting teenagers often end up in hospital emergency rooms. Allspice can cause not only allergic reactions, but gastrointestinal conditions like acid reflux, ulcers, and diverticulitis. It also poses a risk for promoting cancer!

Who would have thought these innocent, everyday dessert spices could reek so much havoc on your digestive system?? But you see, they are not just food flavorings. They are drugs. Since I am the one in a million who does not detox drugs due to weird-ass genetic mutations, I concluded aside from the known toxic side effects, they must be storing in my body rather than flushing out.

After a few days of no apple crisp and improved health, I thoughtlessly made a recipe which is also loaded with cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. I must have been in denial. Immediately the pain, nausea and burning returned. Hmmm...

I decided to do a liver-gallbladder-pancreas cleansing remedy. This involved drinking beet-apple-lemon juice mixed with olive oil every morning for several days. It sounds worse than it is (hold your breath and drink it down fast!!), but as a high-fructose concentrate, it can create some fatigue. After a few days, this seem to help.

Then I did the kidney/gallbladder stone remedy drinking 2 ounces of olive oil mixed with 2 ounces of lemon juice (double eeeewww). I have read all that oil enables the stones to just slide right out of the ducts and into the colon and I have heard if one is in the middle of a painful kidney stone or gallstone attack, this remedy will save you from an unnecessary surgery on the butcher's table. I didn't see any evidence this helped, but it couldn't have hurt.

A friend of mine said, "You know, you don't have to add spices to apple crisp." At first I thought, But then what would be the point? That would be like making chocolate cake without the chocolate. Who needs chocolate? Who needs spices? So I tried it. Apple crisp with no spices actually tastes better! I'm trying not to over do it on the new-and-improved Spiceless Crisp.

Spiceless Crisp - looks the same

Spiceless Crisp - yum!

My spice days are over and I'm learning too much of a good thing is never good. My diet is becoming more boring with each passing day, but...

NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS FEELING GOOD DOES!

November Movie Reviews

***** Outstanding, Loved It, Will Watch Again
****   Great
***     So So
**       Blah, and Barely Tolerable
*         I Want To Poke My Eyes Out


Bang Bang Baby is a very strange spoof on 1960s musicals mixed with a Rocky Horror Picture Show strangeness. It's about a girl who wants to be a singer, but the local chemical company has a spill and everyone is infected with toxic chemicals that create mutations and fantasies. Yeah. There is no way to make that sound rational. So bizarre, but I DID watch the whole thing! *

Eight Days is about human sex trafficking and a sixteen-year old girl who is kidnapped through an acquaintance at school and sold to traffickers. It opens with scenes of children being sold by their drug-addict parents or kidnapped, young boys and girls, to be used in the sex industry. Very sad. Then it follows with the story of the sixteen-year old which is based on true events. I think. Not quite sure. It was made for public education. I think. Again, not quite sure. The story is valuable, but the script and acting were REALLY, REALLY BAD. OUTSTANDINGLY, SHOCKINGLY BAD. **

The Falling was weird, slow, pointless, but it did have lovely scenery of English lakes, oak trees, and autumn leaves. I turned it off right about the time the main character (Ariel from Game of Thrones) was getting felt up by her brother. I wasn't sure where they were going with that and it wasn't going anywhere before that. *

NOTE: I did discover Hoopla through my library system, an online service that has a limited selection of free movie downloads along with music and audiobooks. I like free services. I hope they add more titles to their collection. They are currently lacking.

Spider-Man 2 has a rating description called Stylized Action Violence. That means there are lots of long, drawn out action scenes...that are violent...and stylized. In other words the computer digitalization of the characters turns humans into cartoons and cartoons can do a whole lot of stuff real humans can't. Maybe they needed those long, drawn out digital sequences since the bad guy is much uglier in this movie than in the first. I prefer less sci-fi action and more humanness. I like it when Tobey McGuire cries, but I'd like him to cry more. All the same characters and actors have returned which is a bit unusual for a sequel. Usually someone bails.  ***

Spider-Man 3 ...lots of Stylized Action Violence in this one, too, but I have to admit I liked it a little more. Really cool air maneuvers on skateboard/surf board contraptions, flips, and close calls.. I'm still unclear how humans can live after falling from 20 stories and hit pavement or being slammed against a brick wall, but that's part of the fantasy. Tobey McGuire cries at least five times so I liked that and he plays a slightly evil Spider-Man which was delicious. I like a hero who takes a walk on the dark side. ****

The Amazing Spider-Man.   This movie was made about five years after Spider-Man 3. Totally different cast including Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Sally Field, Martin Sheen among other heavy hitter celebrities. I'm not sure why a studio would create the exact same storyline as the previous Spider-Man series nor why the studio would justify the financing for it. I wonder if they made any money on it? Garfield is a passible Spider-Man, a little too skinny and tall for the part and his hair is wildly unmanageable. He did cry a few times, but Tobey cries better. The action wasn't quite as stylized, more realistic yet less graceful. The people still fall from 20 stories and are able to get up and walk away from it. Different villain, not as realistic as the stylized ones. It looked more like an actor in a Godzilla suit and lacked good special effects especially when he spoke. There are a few scenes that are really cool showing Spider-Man's perspective as he's swinging through the streets and this movie addresses WHY this spider bite made the kid part arachnid. Still, I prefer the Tobey MacGuire movies. Something about him just fits the character. Tobey maintains an innocent geekiness throughout the series that is consistent and charming. Andrew's Spider-Man is uncomfortable in his own body, less geeky, more misfit that makes the viewer not trust him and worry if he'll snap and shoot up a school or movie theater. Tobey's movies have a humor style that is more comic book and there is less blood since everyone just bounces and never really gets too hurt. **

It was a superhero kind of month...

Welcome to Me was kind of mesmerizing in the same way an auto accident on the freeway makes you want to slow down an gawk. Kristen Wiig plays this seriously bipolar woman who never turns off her TV, watches Oprah talk show videos to the point of memorizing Oprah's self-help monologues, and goes off her meds. If she expects any kind of confrontation she is ready with a "prepared statement" that she pulls out of her fanny pack. That fanny pack alone is pretty funny. Then she wins $86 million dollars in the California Lottery! Her "prepared statement" for accepting the money includes, "I have been using masturbation as a form of relaxation since 1991." LOL. She uses the money to buy her own talk show so she can talk about herself and do reenactments of her life's worst moments. You'd think those reenactments would include traumatizing events like child abuse or serious injuries, but instead focus on girls stealing her make-up at camp or girls spreading rumors about her. The producers let her do whatever she wants because the studio desperately needs the money until the subjects of her reenactments start suing the production company. Lots of well-known supporting actors which is always fun, but it's really a great movie because it's so mesmerizing. You never know what she's going to do next and the anticipation is delightful. I hate stupid humor and I expected that's what I'd get with this, but it was more like a drama with smart comedy. ****

I'm starting on the fourth season of ER.

Mother Nature and Monsoons

I love monsoon weather with the rain beating so hard on your house you can barely hear yourself think. I feel safe inside knowing I've worked to keep this house rain-proof and construction-sound to weather nearly anything Mother Nature throws this way. About six years ago we had a storm with 123 mile per hour winds. My 93 year old fortress stood strong.

I like it less when it all creates more construction work and expense for me:

My poor, poor newly stained fence bit the dust...what you can't see is the rest of the fence flapping in the wind. It's very disturbing. I feel like the perimeter is breached and my security compromised. Sigh. I do remember laughing to myself when I was staining it and noticing all the rot that at least when it collapses it'll look good. It does look good - even horizontal!! My newly painted porch is soaked, still lovely, and no longer slippery. Painting it was a good plan.

The Winter War is here. It's a never-ending battle. I can't wait until summer.

Murder She Wrote

I'm feeling really badly about this.

I tried all summer to kill the yellow-jackets that have moved into my walls or roof through the little hole underneath the outside molding. Those homemade traps didn't work. They caught a lot of flies but the yellow-jackets didn't care. I filled one with some really nice homemade wine, and they still didn't care. I resolved to live and let live as long as they weren't hurting me. Yellow-jackets are good for gardens as they eat the bad bugs, or so I've heard. I also read when the winter freeze sets in they will all die anyway. Then someone told me because our winters have been so warm they might just hibernate and never die.

And then they started getting noisy. In the middle of the night. A purring, humming, almost like a soft woodpecker staccato only one hundred times faster. Off and on all night. Sometimes during the day I could hear them when I'm on the computer. That made me nervous. Are they trying to bore through the wood walls into the warmth of my house? What happens if they break through? Will I have to have my whole house fumigated? That can't happen. What I would do with a house full of mean bugs.

So I called the local exterminator. Nice guys. Of course they told me their pesticides were non-toxic. Yeah, right. I took precautions anyways, stuffing towels under my doors and around the wall where the stingers lived just on the other side. Because the hive couldn't be seen or reached, the exterminators said they would use a dust that covers the entrance so when they fly in and out it would kill them. No huge fumes. Still, I knew better.

The boss man was training a new hire, explaining in great detail what is to be done and why. It was fascinating. And then he retrieved this little blower to blow the dust. It had dust in it already, but he was unsure if it was the right dust for the yellow-jackets. To test it he opened the blower and SNIFFED IT! I was horrified! I tried to explain to him that was not a good practice. He laughed. Again, I tried to tell him he won't be laughing when in the next couple years he's diagnosed with lung or brain cancer. Pesticides were developed to kill. It's really not smart to purposely sniff poison! He laughed anyway. These young boys think they are immortal.

So they poofed the dust in the holes. The yellow-jackets went insane, buzzing loudly, and flying crazy. Then they all dropped or disappeared. I watched trying to keep a safe distance, but I think I might have got a whiff of it as my lungs started feeling heavy. It's been two hours and my lungs still feel heavy. It amazes me these companies think their killing chemicals are safe, but if you want to kill something, it works.

I feel sad for them. They are just trying to exist in this world like every other creature and here I am poisoning them with chemicals that would poison me.

I'm glad I'm not a yellow-jacket, but most of the time I feel like one. Irritable, mean, just trying to survive, and sensitive to toxic chemicals.

October Movie Reviews

5 stars: Awesome enough for multiple viewings
4 stars: Great
3 stars: OK
2 stars: Tolerable, but not suggested
1 star: Blah, don't even bother

Age of Adaline  is about a woman who was in a car accident in the 1920s and never ages. Every ten years she must move and change identities so as not to be discovered. This involves never getting involved with anyone, or the classic theme love makes life worth living. Can you imagine being thirty years old for the rest of your life? I assume she doesn't get sick either, but they didn't get that detailed. I didn't like Blake Lively's whispery voice. It sounded too fake although maybe she was going for a certain early 20th-century-style in diction? I don't know. She made up for it with great evening gowns and that swishy, butt-wiggle walk. Great story, great acting, and great characters. Harrison Ford had a good, but minor role. We rarely see him anymore. ****

From Here to Eternity is a 1953 classic with Montgomery Clift, Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, as well as an all-star cast of supporting actors. I saw it in the library and realized I'd never seen it before, although I've seen plenty of spoofs on the beach scene. In its day it was a huge hit garnering 12 Academy Awards including Best Picture, but to modern viewers such as myself, it's excessively melodramatic. Frank Sinatra was SO SKINNY, and oddly enough he sang one song and not very well, I might add. How did that little runt get to be so famous? ***

Goats is about a teenage boy who basically raised himself while living with a new age wacko mother. And Goat Man (played by David Duchovny), the pseudo pot-smoking father figure who has lived in the pool house for as long as he can remember who takes him on goat treks in the Tucson desert and grows pot in the greenhouse. His wealthy father lives on the east coast but has been absent for most of his life. The kid goes off to prep school. It's dysfunctional at it's most dysfunctional, but the kid is a survivor. David Duchovny is unrecognizable as Goat Man with a long hair and beard. He's always so odd it's entertaining. ***

The Men Who Stare at Goats was a very strange movie about psychic warfare with Ewain McGregor, George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, and Jeff Bridges. Too weird yet boring for me. *

The Village Barbershop is a movie about a barber in Reno who's wife dies, and then his business partner dies. He's a bit of an idiot when it comes to business and finance and he's not very personable. He likes routine and gets out of wack when someone messes with his precise schedule. He begrudgingly hires a woman with a whole set of problems of her own. That description makes it sound like a comedy. It wasn't. It was more a human drama about daily existence and how our lives and perceptions change with the people we encounter. It was a bit slow, plodding along at a snail's pace, but good characters. Normal people doing normal things. ***

Not many movies this month - I ran out of ideas. Then I had this wild idea of binge watching seasons of ER. I can't believe I've never seen this television show ever in my life. For years I never knew who George Clooney was. I definitely understand all the hype now, but that Noah Wyle is so adorable...I'm on season three now. It's good, fast-paced, human-drama with interesting characters. For a prime time television show on a major network, I can certainly see how it got all those Emmys.

 

Can you believe it's already November???

I Have TILT?

Or is it:

I am TILTed?

I feel TILTed?

TILTed I am?



I just read this great article on chemical sensitivity called Allergic to Life .  It was written a couple years ago but addresses gene mutations that might contribute to chemical sensitivity and brain scans that show evidence of physiological changes when exposed to poisons. I like that it indicates some progress is being made with research even if it's just this one person.

The researcher's ultimate goal is that doctors become more aware and educated so they understand how to identify those with chemical sensitivities and, therefore, provide better care. The article also addresses the naysayers who believe it's all mental which, of course, causes so much controversy it stops medical community acceptance right in its tracks. My cynical self thinks breaking through the narrow-mindedness is impossible.



And then there is the electric shock therapy some claim "cure" MCS. Whoa! I can't wait to sign up for some of that!

Of course, it's time for another terminology change. No longer Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Environmental Illness, or Sick Building Syndrome,  it's now called "Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance" or TILT. Like a pinball game? Hmmm...MCS survival is a bit of a game. Does this mean I have to change my blog name to TILT Survivor? Maybe "TILTed". I like that. It expresses how I feel most of the time.


If the abbreviated link above doesn't work at any point in time, here is the actual link:

http://discovermagazine.com/2013/nov/13-allergic-life

WHY Are You Not Listening to Me, AGAIN AND AGAIN?

I found another naturopath who is closer to me so she's only a three hour trip instead of eight hours. It's a little bit of an improvement. She also offered a fifteen-minute "meet-and-greet" so I could ask questions, scope her out before spending the big bucks. I figured I could ascertain if she was capable of listening.

My "meet-and-greet" consisted of Can you treat a patient without drugs? Do you have ANYTHING in your protocol other than drugs? I went into great detail about my drug intolerance and the many years of misery due to doctors who don't get it. In detail I defined the scope of what I call a drug: prescriptions, supplements of any kind including but not limited to herbs, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids, flavonoids, weird-ass antioxidants, and any food that acts like a drug (caffeine, herb-ish plants).

She claimed she did have alternative treatments. She mentioned a more in-depth analysis of the gene mutation interpretation that might offer some answers and options. She talked about energy treatments which I think are a waste of money but as long as they aren't drugs, she was answering my questions.

So I make the $175.00 appointment. On all my intake forms I write in bold letters, "I DO NOT DO DRUGS AND WILL NOT TRY DRUGS AS AN EXPERIMENT."

I know these appointments are more about my background than her diagnosis/treatment ideas, but as we get to the end all she's talking about are drugs. She keeps saying, "I know you said you don't take drugs, but...." She even tells me she doesn't see the point in having me do the gene mutation interpretations after all because all the related treatments are drugs. Hmmmm....and why didn't she tell me this during the meet-and-greet?

Her written treatment plan with everything she wants me to do has nine items. Other than "Go to the lab for blood work" and "Call me if you have questions", everything is a drug!

Are doctors incapable of thinking beyond poisoning patients? Have they been brainwashed into a drug culture and can't think out of their tiny, narrow-minded box?  Are they just all liars? Are they just trying to get me to spend money like any snake-oil salesman? Are they all brain dead and incapable of listening?

WHY DON'T THEY LISTEN TO ME?

Maybe I should lay down the law from now on: If you even mention drugs at any time for any reason, the appointment is FREE! LOL!

Car Shopping for the Chemically Sensitive

Chemical sensitivity makes car shopping hazardous! New cars smell of off-gassing plastics. Used cars smell of cleaning agents, air fresheners, cigarette smoke, stale perfume, or dogs. Salespeople or owners wear perfume or cologne. Dealerships smell of chemicals. The whole experience can be stressful, traumatizing and life threatening.

My last experience buying a car was ten years ago. I went from dealership to dealership and faced a number of perfumed salesmen and air freshened cars. Finally found my "farm van" sold to me by a rare fragrance-free salesperson, drove it home with all the windows down wearing a mask, and over the course of two weeks did everything possible to clean, sanitize, and de-fragrance it. Although they didn't use scented cleaners on the inside, they did clean the engine with incredibly toxic chemicals that infiltrated into the interior. I used vinegar, baking soda, and bowls of freshly ground coffee as natural air cleaners while I vacuumed it repeatedly. heated it, aired it out, and steam cleaned it with fragrance-free shampoo. It worked! I love my van. It provides a place to sleep should my house become contaminated, I use it for camping, and it hauls everything from rabbit manure to gravel to cedar wood chips to yard sale finds. It even moved me to my current residence. Unfortunately, it's getting old with 240,000 miles on it. I had no idea engines could last that long! I needed a backup vehicle.

Five years ago I started car shopping. I knew it was going to take a long time. Limited to three toxic exposures per day, it was a slow process, but I started smelling the interiors of cars. Most of the cheaper, economical cars like Toyota, Honda, Saturn, Kia, Hyundai, Fords, Chevys, and Nissans use cheap plastic for their interiors. One whiff and the migraines and nausea would start. I discovered only two cars I could tolerate well: Mini Cooper and the Smart Car. They still had a smell, especially new, but if used, the smell was hardly noticeable. The Mini Cooper dealership stopped using toxic cleaners and I found out they do not accept trade-ins with cigarette smoke or dog smell as the smells are impossible to eradicate. This gave me hope.

I test drove a Smart Car and although it was small and economical, both important requirements, the transmission shifting was noisy. It was whiny. It didn't seem to want to go very quickly and I hated the steering wheel shifting options. At eight feet long it was cute, but too small. A logging truck or semi would destabilize it by just passing by!

For years I test drove Mini Coopers. I think they are adorable and they handle well with touchy steering wheels and brakes. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure I would like the excessive shaking over bumpy roads and what seemed like a lack of visibility with some of the models. I was told I'd get used to it, but these cars are twice as expensive than others. I shouldn't have to get used to it. The last test drive I noticed the dashboard was rattling. The salesperson told me that's normal with all Minis. Hmmm... Maintenance is 20-30% more than regular cars and insurance way more expensive, too. Several salespeople offered to scout used ones for me, but no one came through. I think they prefer selling the high priced brand new ones to rich people. Of course.

When I gave up on the Mini Cooper, I felt at a loss for what to do. My mechanic suggested a Scion. I'd never heard of a Scion. They are made by Toyota. I happened to drive by a Toyota dealership early on a Sunday morning and thought I'd just go look. I just wanted to see what they looked like although I was still worried about the smell of cleaning solutions and new cars are out of the question. The manager was there and he suggested shopping for the newly-traded-in-but-not-detailed-yet cars. Brilliant! I found one car that had no smell, but it was a larger size sedan. I want a small car. This plan of action, however, was motivating.

The next day I drove to the city for some car shopping. I asked five different dealerships if I could shop their newly-traded-in-but-not-detailed cars yet. All but one said NO as it was against their policy. OK, I guess I won't be buying their cars!

Then I visited the Toyota dealership, asked the very eager, newly-hired salesboys if they were wearing cologne. One of them immediately looked disappointed so I knew he was definitely smelly. Live and learn young salesboy! But the other one said quickly and cheerfully, "I'm not!!" He grinned from ear to ear. So adorable. I asked about the newly-traded-in-but-not-yet detailed cars and he said, Sure! Whatever you need! My new, young, adorable salesboy took me to the secret lot where they hid the newly-traded-in-by-not-detailed-yet cars. Unfortunately nearly all of them were white and had way more than 100,000 miles on them. Nope. I don't do white, black, red or silver. Please! I need a pleasing color!

The next day in my little town I saw a purple car. I knew it wasn't a Smart Car since they don't come in purple. It was a Scion IQ! A Smart Car made by Toyota! Wasn't that the make my mechanic suggested? I'd never even heard or seen this model before. So cute! I did some online research. They are about 2 feet longer and sturdier than a Smart Car, better engines, with great gas mileage (35 to 40 mpg). And, of course, made by Toyota. However, Toyota discontinued the IQ last year due to disinterest. I picked my favorite color (blue), found a photo, and placed it on my desktop. I figured this was good karma.

My next trip into the city I decided to stop at the Toyota dealership, sneak into the back secret lot to see the newly-traded cars...and there it sat: the exact car that was my desktop photo! A blue 2012 Scion IQ with only 37,000 miles! It was just returned as a lease that day, but the dealership hadn't decided if they would buy it for re-sale. I knew it was my car! Unfortunately, they knew I felt this way, too, along with my special needs that I made plainly clear. I paid more than I think I should have, but as I've said time and time again, chemical sensitivity is expensive.

Although it wasn't detailed with the smelly carpet shampoo, they did clean it and I think that involved using some kind of toxic cleaner. After driving it home without a mask (I forgot it!), I was very sick all night. Not a good way to feel after buying a car.

Currently I have baking soda and freshly ground coffee in it soaking up the stink, but I can drive it wearing a mask. I am also heating it up and airing it out repeatedly, as well as using an air purifier. It's always a risk but I have confidence it'll be chemical-free with patience and effort.

I am still keeping my van for local transportation, hauling, and camping, but now by using the new car for long distance grocery runs, the van may last a little longer.

NEW BABY PHOTOS:

 

HOORAY!!
I have to admit I want to re-paint my house to match and buy a whole new BLUE wardrobe.

LOL!



Party Time!!

The dots have returned! 
 

Chair seat

I believe my anti-dot phase was just a temporary brain failure. I let those stripes stew for a couple days hoping I'd get used to them. I didn't. Blah. Blah. Blah. So I decided if I tweaked the polka-dot plan, maybe that would do the trick. And it did!

SO JOYFUL! I love it!

 

 

I'm calling it Confetti.

 

It feels like a party.



HOORAY!!

The Reality of Autoimmune Disease

This is an awesome article about what it's like to have an autoimmune disease:

 

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/08/26/whats-wrong-with-me

 

 

 More specifically, what it's like to have Hashimoto's.

 

Love her writing style and her turn of words:

 

“…multiple autoimmune diseases - each slowly developing, in sequence, like a garden coming into terrible bloom.”

 

 I can totally relate to her experiences especially the incompetent doctors and loss of self.

 

I cried my way through the whole article.

 

I get it.

Punkin Babies

Happy Halloween! My pumpkins are few and small, but I grew them! I will eat them. Until then they will sit on my newly-painted porch and look really cute.

Anti-Dots

I'm worried. I have developed an aversion to dots. BUT I LOVE DOTS!? I put dots on everything. It's my signature! I'm like Dot, the cartoon girl who loves dots!

That dress is disturbingly short!

Lots of dots in different sizes.

 

 



Dots in different colors.

 

 

 



Dots on everything.

 

 

The porch I painted was supposed to have dots. Lots of dots. Dots on the edges. Dots on the background. Dots down the vines. Dots on dots. I painted them, then painted over almost all of them. What is the matter with me?

My latest painting project is a $1 chair I bought at a yard sale over the summer. I have not been motivated so I put off painting it for a long time. Any idea I had didn't feel right. I decided to paint it different colors like my stairs and then to load it with dots like another chair I have:

I tried three times to paint dots and each time wiped them off. So it's just stripes.

Just stripes. No dots. Not one dot. The thought of dots is repulsive. The stripes are screaming for dots, but I can't do it, but it doesn't feel finished. It looks plain. But I can't do dots!

Maybe it's brain trauma of some kind? Or maybe it WAS brain trauma and now my brain has healed? Or maybe now my thing is stripes?

 

I am perplexed...and disturbed.

Freebie Therapy

I've had a bad, bad week so I thought I'd post my latest freebie. Freebies tend to cheer me up. I was at the free store at my local co-op and thought I'd look just to kill time before an appointment. The free store is a place where people can donate items for others to take. Like a mini Freecycle. I've donated lots of stuff like business suits and shoes, scarves and jewels, books and frames, toaster ovens and rugs. The stuff disappears fast so there is a constant turnover. Normally I don't see anything I would want and there wasn't much there, but I needed something. I found a black 100% cotton cardigan with cute little buttons. I had to wash it a couple times, but it doesn't stink. The photo makes it look washed out, but it's not. It's just the lighting. I love black. It goes with all my black things. I'm not sure why anyone would donate it. Maybe they were tired of it?

Hooray for freebies!

September Movie Reviews

Five stars means I love it so much I will watch it more than once, four stars means it was great but probably won't see it again, three means it was good, two means it was tolerable but not great, and one star means I probably turned it off before it was over.

Black or White is about a grandfather (Kevin Costner) who has custody of his granddaughter since her mother, his daughter, died in childbirth. His wife dies unexpectedly in a car accident and the little girl's African American paternal grandmother thinks she needs to come live with her and her big family. Octavia Spencer plays the paternal grandmother who is raising most of her relatives kids. Although she's a strong, capable woman, she has a blind spot when it comes to her crack-addicted useless son. Costner...hmmm...granted he was supposed to be drunk throughout the whole movie, but it was more like he couldn't quite get his lines right. His timing was off. Interesting how both legal teams were constantly working their case around racism, but it didn't have anything to do with racism. People love to hate and love to promote hate. If they would put as much effort into getting along and working together, the world would be a better place. **

The Deep Blue Sea is an English movie about a woman married to an aristocrat. She falls in love with a dashing young man and leaves her boring life, but he doesn't love her as much as she wants, he forgets her birthday so she tries to kill herself. Absolutely weird. It was exceptionally melodramatic and the high pitched screeching of violin music nearly drove me insane. Rachel Weisz has really awesome hair. Great 1950's London sets and costumes. **

Gemma Bovery is a French movie with English subtitles about a baker who is fixated on literature. He lives in a beautiful little French village where the author of Madame Bovary lived and wrote his book. When his new English neighbors move in with the last name Bovery he imagines the very attractive wife to be a Madame Bovary character. He assumes, like Madame Bovary, she is bored with her circumstances. When she starts screwing the gorgeous young man who lives in the nearby chateau, it only makes the baker more obsessed with her. It has moments of subtle humor and the scenery is gorgeous. I'd love to live in France. ***

Glory is about the 54th Massachusetts Colored Regiment led by Robert Gould Shaw during the Civil War. Although I first saw this movie when it came out years ago, I recently read a book on Shaw and the 54th.  War is disturbing anyway, but the way they used to just stand there, lined up, out in the open waiting to get shot is a bit shocking. That would take a whole lot of courage. Shaw was only 27 years old when he was killed in one of the battles and he was buried on the battlefield with his soldiers. Outstanding story and movie. *****

Night at the Museum was about a newly-hired night guard at the Museum of Natural History where all the displays come to life at night due to some Egyptian curse. I loved the plug on the benefits of learning about history. It's a kid's movie, but the pace was fast and unlike so many adult movies I've watched lately, I never got bored once! It has an all-star cast with Mickey Rooney, Dick Van Dyke, and Robin Williams with Ben Stiller playing the lead character. It was all about conflict management and learning to work together. Great themes for kids. I love the T-Rex bones...he just wanted to play fetch. LOL! ****

Neighbors is about a fraternity that moves next door to a couple with a new baby. It was incredibly, repulsively stupid in every way possible EXCEPT Zach Efron is half naked most of the time. ***********

Redwood Highway is about an older woman who was put in a convalescent center by her son and is tired of everyone telling her NO all the time. So she walks 80 miles down the Redwood Highway to attend the wedding of her granddaughter. She reminisces about her own wedding, honeymoon, and memories as she makes memories with the people she encounters along the way. Outstanding scenery of the southern Oregon area which is spectacularly beautiful year round. It's a sweet, feel-good movie, maybe too sweet to be realistic or interesting. Can a son put his mother in a home without her permission? She was perfectly sane and healthy. Hmmm... Kind of reminded me of Wild and made me want to put a backpack on and walk long distance. I desire to make more memories. ***

Rewrite is about a famous Hollywood screenwriter, a "one-hit-wonder", who hasn't worked for a while because no one is interested in what he has to offer. He has lost all confidence in himself. As a way to pay bills, he gets a job teaching at a small, east coast college, but his "you can't teach talent" attitude and his cavorting with students old enough to be his children gets him in trouble. I like Hugh Grant. He's great at dry, sarcastic humor which was perfect for this story. He's aging (aren't we all) which I find disturbing. Celebrities aren't supposed to get old! It makes me feel old! He has such outstanding comedic timing and the lines he has in this movie are exceptional. Marisa Tomei is also great. It's heartwarming, and although it has a "teaching-is-a-rewarding-profession" theme, it is not sappy nor overdone. I enjoyed it. ****

Still is an English movie with the actor from Game of Thrones who plays Littlefinger. It's about teenage gangs: Are these hoods criminals or still children? One gang of thugs starts harassing this man, shoving excrement into his mailbox, calling him late at night and breathing into the phone, harassing him when he's walking down the street, banging on his door or screaming outside his house in the middle of the night, and leaving dead cats on his porch. I'm still not clear why he brought the bag INTO his house, dumping the rotting corpse into the bathtub, and then vomited uncontrollably. I realize it was just for effect or we'd never know there was a dead cat in that bag, but a sane person would have taken it to the garbage can to inspect the contents, with "inspecting the contents" not a requirement. He knew it was from the gang. He blows them off as just kids even though other kids in the neighborhood are getting killed by these sleazeballs, then their behavior escalates, and he takes action. And it's really good revenge action. He actually might have gotten away with it. It was a little slow, kind of depressing, but an interesting story. **

Unfinished Song is about a crotchety old man who doesn't seem to get along with anyone and who's cheerful wife sings in a choir because it brings her joy, probably the only joy in her life since she lives with him. Then she dies and he decides to join the choir. I like Vanessa Redgrave who plays the wife. It's incredibly sappy portrayal of grief which I found unbearable, but more irritating was the attitude of the man and his rude behavior toward everyone. Normally there is some epiphany, or disclosure behind the reason a character makes you want to hate them, but there wasn't. It was also extremely unrealistic to expect us to believe people who can't sing win a singing contest, but it was all about the sap with this movie. Realism took a back seat. **

Wild Tales is an Argentinian foreign film about revenge. Six very strange stories about people's perception of injustice and the last straw that pushes them over the edge. Some of it was rather funny, or sick, I guess, depending on how one looks at it. It definitely makes you think twice about ever being mean to someone as karma is a bitch. I liked the road rage story. The photography was at times outstanding, the way they framed shots, especially in the first couple stories. ***

Hooray for Fair Day!

I went to the fair last week with my best friend from high school. We both grew up in the neighboring town, but since neither of us had attended this event for years, we thought it would be a fun, nostalgic outing and worth driving over two hours for the experience.

We saw warehouse buildings full of salespeople, farm animals, carnival rides, and JUNK FOOD. Where did all that junk food come from? In the "old days" there were onion burgers, scones, ice cream, French fries and cotton candy. These were foods we waited to eat once a year. We were living dangerously.

Times have changed. I saw every manner of junk food a person could imagine and some unimaginable, booths of various poisons lined up and down the walkways with long lines of eager consumers.

There was even a "History of Candy" tent for the sole purpose of advertising the wonders of candy. I toured it. Lots of videos on candy production. Displays and photos of history. The propaganda was scary, like a bad movie. It made the viewer want to run to the nearest junk food booth and gorge on some candy. No mention of how it will rot your teeth, make you obese, and contribute to any number of diseases as it rots you from the inside out. I stayed for about five minutes before I realized the tent smelled like chocolate. CHOCOLATE? It took me a minute, then I looked around. There wasn't any chocolate in the tent to be bought or eaten! AIR FRESHENERS! I panicked and ran for the nearest exit! It's amazing how subtle it was, but enough to scare the life out of me.

The absolutely worse food booth was the one called TOTALLY FRIED where they deep fry anything that might be edible, or in my case, not edible. There was a t-shirt one could buy to advertise these bad dietary habits: "If They Fry It, I Will Try It". I was tempted to buy it. Here is a photo my friend took although, unfortunately, she didn't get the whole booth:

Please notice the bottom of the menu list:

SPAM AND VELVEETA CORN DOGS

 

almost as bad as

 

DEEP FRIED PEANUT BUTTER AND JAM

 

or

 

Deep Fried Snickers

 

 

Really? Why would anyone want to eat that?  I am so sheltered in my healthy, secluded lifestyle that I forget there are people out there who eat like this on a daily basis. It amazes me there were lines for these food booths and people walking around gorging on large tubs of twice-fried junk food.

 

It was like a trip to Hell...

 

 

I purposely word my posts so I can find ways to use my devils as illustrations.
They bring me much joy.

 

 

And then there were the little piglets that reminded me everything was right in the world:

 

 

 

It was fun, interesting, educational, shocking, and mostly outdoors in somewhat fresh air. Even with the candy tent poisoning, some perfume exposure, and eating ice cream from the dairy barn (!), I survived with little if any health consequences.

 

Hooray for Fair Day!