July Movie Reviews

*****  Exceptional

****    Great

***      OK

**        So So

*          Blah

Boredom is a documentary film on boredom. Very interesting information. They start out by describing how people get bored, for instance, non-stimulating environments and repetition. Sitting does something to one's brain to enhance boredom. Our education system is a prime example of the most boring place on earth with rote memory repetition, sitting, required non-activity and discipline, and an overall lack of interest with play time relegated to a very small percentage of the day.  Then as adults we select jobs so we can sit all day and do repetitive, uninteresting work. Although we assume when we are bored we become lethargic and our brains slow down...it's actually the opposite as boredom activates our brain creating stress. Addictions were thought to be physiological or psychological, but this movie says addictions are caused by boredom. It's boredom that makes people seek risk-taking activities. I've been bored most of my life unless I'm traveling, hitchhiking or doing something highly stimulating. Over the years I've met men who tell me they are never bored as if this makes them cognitively superior. I always think stupid people aren't bored because they are easily entertained. Someday I'll think it out loud. In conclusion, boredom is killing us. ***

The Child in Time Benedict Cumberbatch is the father of a four year old and one day while he takes her grocery shopping and takes his eye off her for a second, she disappears. So horrible. I can't imagine.  Kelly MacDonald is his wife and the story is told through flashbacks illustrating the torment they both experience in the following years. So sad. ****

The Deflowering of Eva van End is a Dutch film about a very awkward adolescent high school girl who is ignored by her dysfunctional family and tormented by her classmates. Her class sponsors visitors from Germany and she is assigned the adorable Veit who will live with her for two weeks while they practice their English. He is into meditation and positive thinking and proceeds to impact the whole family one by one with his charm. The girls at school are all over him, Eva's older brother tries to torment him and fails miserably, Eva's oldest brother who has just moved out with his girlfriend falls in love with him. It's a fairly weird movie with humor much like the God movie I saw not too long ago. Great performances. ***

Dreams of a Life is a documentary about the life and death of Joyce Vincent, a 38-year old woman who died in her apartment in 2003 but her disintegrated corpse was not discovered for three years. THREE YEARS! The television was still on, she owed an enormous amount of unpaid rent, utility companies never shut off her services although they went unpaid, no one complained about smell or questioned her non-existence. The film interviewed old friends, co-workers and boyfriends who described a beautiful, well-educated, friendly person as they tried to make sense of how someone could slip through the cracks and be so utterly invisible to everyone around her. So sad, but I totally get it. With so few friends and fewer relatives, I often wonder if anyone would even question if they didn't hear from me since I'm so reclusive. None of it surprises me. I think there are a lot of reclusive, isolated people who could disappear and no one would question it and she had far more friends and relatives than I have. Now it's time for me to rant about how disconnected technology has made us as a society.  We no longer contact people to find out how they are or what they've been doing...instead we look at their Facebook page or Twitter feed for signs of life and call it good. Something is wrong with this. It disgusts me. ***

Edge of Tomorrow Weird sci-fi starring Tom Cruise. What's not to hate? It's about a guy who relives the same combat day over and over because when a mega alien kills him he is contaminated with "mimic blood". I don't know. Someone suggested I see this so I can watch Tom Cruise die over and over again. LOL I actually watched the whole thing but I can't count how many times I wanted to turn it off. *

Goodbye Christopher Robin is about the writing of Winnie the Pooh and its effect on the real Christopher Robin. His parents were horrible. Granted, his father was suffering from PTSD due to his service in WWI before anyone knew what PTSD was, but his mother was so incredibly self-centered. It was during an era when wealthy parents ignored their kids and went off on vacation for a month leaving the nannies to raise them. Hard to believe people were ever like that. The kid that plays Christopher Robin is shockingly adorable. The woods were magically beautiful. The guy who plays Milne looks just like him.  Great movie. I'd love to live in that house in the country. *****

The Iran Job is about an African-American professional basketball player who is hired to play for a team in Iran amidst the political unrest. It was a very interesting look at the Iranian culture, especially the way they treat women. The basketball player befriends three women. Legally they aren't allowed to sit close to men, sit in a car with them, be in an apartment with a man, go without their head scarves or coats in public and sometimes not even allowed to watch a men's basketball game. They break all the rules and have to sneak around for fear of being arrested and imprisoned. I worry about the film - if the authorities see it, wouldn't they go arrest the women anyway? It's so absolutely backwards and hard to believe women are treated so badly in other countries. ***

Lady Bird is a coming of age movie about a high school senior (Saoirse Ronan), her head-strong mother who has no filter, her best friend, her romantic encounters, and her constant search for herself. It had some funny moments, but nothing special. ***

The Leisure Seeker I read this book a few months ago so I was eager to see the movie starring my idol Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland. It's about an elderly couple who take their old camper-van on one last road trip together. He is suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's and she's dying from cancer. It's a great commentary on aging especially for married people who have spent their entire lives together. It was sweet and funny yet tragic. Aging is not for the weak for sure. This one had some extra scenes I don't remember in the book and I liked the way they ended it with a bit more closure than the book. Outstanding performances. ****

Source Code is about a terrorist-type bombing of a commuter train just outside Chicago. It already happened.  An inventor developed a something called source code that can repeat eight minutes of simulated time and they use the reactivated brain of a dead solider to enter this time capsule to discover who the bomber was before he can blow up Chicago. Yeah...I know I'm not explaining it very clearly. Me and sci-fi just don't get along. However, despite the science fiction confusion, it was good. First, it stars Jake Gyllenhaal as the captain who is sent on this mission and is re-sent to repeat the eight minutes over and over to gather new information. He's very confused and disoriented at first, not knowing where he is, where his men are, if his father knows he's stateside, but he complies with the commander's demands to find out who the bomber is. It was good, confusing, but entertaining. ***

Three Worlds is about a French guy who after a night of partying is driving home with his two friends from work and he runs over a man. A woman who was arguing with her boyfriend just happened to be looking out the window and witnesses the whole thing. The man drives away assuming no one has seen him, fearful of losing everything after being promoted at work and soon to be married. He tries to cover it up, but is consumed by guilt. The witness contacts the victim's wife. The story is how the man, witness, and victim's wife are bound together in this tragedy.  Great performances, but the story was  little weak. **

Wakefield was about Howard Wakefield (Bryan Cranston), successful lawyer with a wife and two daughters, living in the suburbs, working in the city, constantly fighting with his wife, sick of the mundane repetitive treadmill his life has become...he decides to just disappear. But not really disappear - he lives in the storage space above his garage while watching his family carry on without him. He spends his days huddled in his space, listening to the radio doing crossword puzzles, and by night he's scrounges garbage cans for food and supplies looking quite insane and homeless. Very odd. I can't believe he would be able to exist for a year without being discovered. Cranston was brilliant. ***

Zodiak was about the Zodiak killer in California in the late 1960s. The all-star cast included Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey, Jr., Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox,  and a whole bunch of others. So creepy this guy was never arrested due to insufficient evidence. Many years later they finally find the key to be able to arrest him, but he died from a heart attack right before the interrogation. How frustrating. I read somewhere that 6,000 murders go unsolved each year. Jeez. Great soundtrack from the late 1960s. Really LONG movie. ***

TELEVISION: Sometimes I don't have that many movies for the month because I am watching a television series. I think I'm going to start adding them at the bottom of my movie list. This month I saw the first season of The Handmaid's Tale.  Good god! I think it was the scariest thing I've ever seen on TV, movie, DVD or video! Absolutely frightening! For those of you living under rocks who have never heard of it, it's about world population coming to an end when fertility dies...few women are having babies and most who are able to get pregnant loose them or the newborns die. They briefly blame this on pollution and not taking care of the environment. A fundamentalist religious group decides society needs to get back to basics with a patriarchal society and subservient women. Their chapters grow in every state, they murder Congress and eventually they take over a large part of the USA and call it Gilead. (The capital of the USA is now in Anchorage Alaska.) Unfortunately anyone on the east coast is under their domain. All fertile women are captured and used as baby-making slaves. And you know most modern American women would never put up with that so of course, they have to torture them into submission and servitude. So we have state-sponsored rape on a regular basis under the guise of holiness. Disobedience could be anything from getting your hand chopped off, your eye plucked out, or hanged. The other options especially for those who don't get pregnant are to be sent to the colonies to work in toxic environments or be hookers!  Those who try to escape run like hell to Canada and refugees are given free health care. LOL. I love the subtle messages. So frightening because it's so plausible. The story focuses on Offred or "Of Fred" because her rapist is name is Fred, (Elizabeth Moss) and I love it we can hear her thoughts. Outstanding performances by all, but especially Moss. Every day I watch it I had nightmares that night....that's a warning.

Artistic Epiphany

So...I went to an estate sale about a week ago. It was huge and the owner of the estate was wild with a fetish for purple. Huge house. Lots of interesting things to see. In the basement was a table dedicated to art supplies. Hmmm...on that table was a brand new set of pastels.

I've never been fond of anything too dirty or too dusty. Charcoal is gross, although I love the effect. Pastel dust is toxic, and just the thought of that dust coating my fingers is unimaginably disgusting. BUT a box of pastels are beautiful, well, when they are new and clean. Just looking at a set of pastels with all those lovely colors makes my heart sing, but the thought of touching them grosses me out. So I kept walking....

Then I thought, WAIT! I have a friend who does pastels and every time I see her messing about I think it looks so fun. I always consider I should try it, but the thought of dust prevents me from experimenting. I sold a set of pastels in a garage sale about five years. They sat in my closet for about 20 years. I do regret selling them now.

So I bought them! The estate sale manager even gave me a discount off the asking price so this huge set of pastels was only $3.00. (I also bought a set of paint brushes.)

Yesterday was the bi-monthly drawing group and I tried them out. OH. MY. GOD. That was so fun! It was like finger painting! And they are so forgiving, unlike painting. If I decided I didn't like a color I just went over it with another! I wore thin, plastic gloves to protect my hands. I considered wearing a mask, but we were drawing outside so I positioned myself out of the wind and constantly blew the excess dust carefully into the bushes.

I still have a lot to learn but really, it was SO FUN! Here is the landscape of my friend's garden:

She offered to buy it and said it was the best rendition of her garden that she ever seen! She hosts the annual potluck every year so that is quite a compliment. I am honored. No one ever offers me money for art. I wonder if she'll frame it!!!????? HAHAHAHA! I don't plan to charge her for it, but I asked her to let me take it home and photograph it first. She has a really outstanding garden.

I'm so excited about pastels!

Added Self-Reliance, or "I LOVE my garden!"

I love this time of year after I've spent most of the spring and summer weeding and the garden is finally looking good. Well, most of it. It's a lot of work. Often I think I need to downsize, it's too much work! But once it's done, it feels worth it. Yesterday I hauled the second load of bark for the pathways. Whew. And I don't even have a pick-up truck so I have to hand shovel it in and out. Once it's all finished I revel in the beauty.

Time for a tour!

Back gate entrance: the daisy garden

Potted garden with elf house

Elf house with ivy
(Yes, I'm purposely growing ivy. Crazy.)

Side walkway and dog pen with asters
(Good use for dog pen....)

View of side walkway from front garden

Entrance to front garden

Front of deck path of front garden

Front path

Front path opposite view looking at
Italian Prune tree

Apple tree

Under apple tree

Love in a Midst garden with Feverfew
with oregano garden behind

Squash

Self-Reliance Repeat, or "I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar"

The closet with the new vent is now lined and I am so proud. I shouldn't confess this, but I had to cut each board individually and I was so profoundly inept at measuring I was forced to traipse up and down the stairs at least FIVE times for each board. Measure, check, wrong, adjust...measure, check, wrong, adjust, repeat, repeat, repeat. I know there is a trick to measuring wood, a secret, but I have no idea. I just fly by the seat of my pants. It was exhausting. But it's done. And beautiful:

Back wall, side and ceiling view.

Inside wall view.

I don't think I'm going to paint this closet like I did the others. The paint stinks, and more importantly, it took about two years before the other closets stopped stinking. I'm liking the pine wood smell. So glad that toxic stink is gone.

It still gets hot, but not nearly as much, and it cools down much faster.

So proud! So exhausted...already. I still have about ten more projects on my summer list. Not sure how far I'll get.

More Self-Reliance

I called and made an appointment with the local roofing company to get a quote on my roof, or rather adding a vent to my roof because a crawlspace gets so hot the neighboring closet feels like an oven and a STINK permeates the whole upstairs including my bedroom. It is unbearable. Not to mention a little scary and toxic. It's not a hot wood smell as the last construction worker tried to tell me. I know what wood smells like. It's either insulation or this ugly, cheap paneling that looks like it is plastic laminate. Although I remodeled the closets on the other side of the house, I saved this one. This roasting/stinking problem only started after I sealed up that crawlspace to keep the bees out and in turn, removed what little ventilation there was. Last year I left a hole from old electrical wiring open and covered it with wire mesh, but it's still not enough ventilation.

This closet is a lot smaller than the other two on the other side of the house with a small four foot sliding wood door as an entrance. I've never used it for anything.

So, the night before the appointment I decided maybe I should investigate the problem more than half-ass so I opened the closet and ripped out the ceiling (cheap, ugly paneling). WOW! There is a ventilation hole in the ceiling that was covered the last time the roof was done. (See below photo.)

In this photo I already started putting new wood lining at the back which is why those boards are so bright. The side showing is the cheap, ugly paneling. The closest paneling is like a cheap wood laminate, but the paneling farthest away has a plastic film. Gross. Underneath there is insulation...awesome. I don't have to buy insulation for this closet.

The wall to the left is quality solid wood bead board
probably original from the 1920s. This closet
will be much less work to remodel.

AND there was plastic stapled to the ceiling. Hmmm...that gives me pause. Was it leaking? I can't see any water damage. I wonder if someone didn't install the roof vent and it leaked? I hope that is all it is. The back wall used to be open to the crawlspace so if it was leaking maybe that's why no one replaced the back wall of the closet? This, unfortunately, is why I am willing to hire a professional roofer to solve mysteries and do the job right.

Unfortunately, the roofing guy didn't show! Am I surprised? I use the word "professional" carelessly when describing local construction people.

I'm on my own. Actually seeing the old vent placement gives me confidence. I decide to watch a few videos on how it's done. Since I ripped out the ceiling paneling it doesn't stink nearly as badly so I'm looking forward to ripping out the wall paneling and replace it with wood. Funny how small projects tend to domino into bigger ones.

After gathering supplies and preparing, it only took about two hours and an hour of that was trying to cut through four layers of composition tile. That alone was exhausting.

Those white dots of caulking should dry clear...I hope.

Inside view.

It's going to be a hot day today so let's see how it works. And then I'll be looking forward to rain to see if it leaks.

I saved $150.00. I am so proud!

Eight Months of Hell

My colon stopped working in November. If you've been reading my blog, you already know this has not been a fun time for me. Experimenting with laxatives of all kinds has been challenging especially since some of them are chemical-based and create side effects I'd rather do without. However...

MY COLON IS NOW WORKING!!!!!!

Unbelievable. Oddly enough, I had asked some Hashimoto's people about non-working colons and quite a few said they have experienced the same thing with no doctors who knew what to do and no relief, BUT one said her issues also lasted about seven to eight months and then miraculously started working again. No one knows anything.

Here's what I know: My colon stopped abruptly after spending a weekend gorging on lectins. I repeat, gorging. I am an overeater and have been all my life. Even when I'm full, I want to eat. I'm sure the lectins compromised my colon's ability to work and with Hashimoto's slowed to a full stop.

Miralax was the only thing that worked for me and I was thankful when my eighth doctor informed me Miralax is not addictive. All it does is add water which helps keeping fecal matter moving in one's colon. Because everything has slowed to a crawl, it spends too much time in the colon and all water is sucked out created painfully dry and hard stools. I started doing four caps of Miralax a day, reduced down to 2 caps. One can tell if one is taking too much Miralax as stools appear like skinny, mushy snakes or worms. (Sorry so graphic. This is for people who need this information. Be thankful I didn't include photos. hehehe)

SO...I put this information together:

First, stop eating so much. Less food means there is less to move. This is difficult for me, but easier if I prepare "fixed" one portion meals. Anytime I make a pot of anything whether it be soup, casserole or stew, I want to eat the whole thing. So fixed meals and lots of willpower not to fix another fixed meal.

Second, water. Now I know we are supposed to drink copious amounts of water and every morning I lay out my eight glasses of water on the counter and attempt to drink all before bedtime. There are days I am so busy I forget to drink anything! I also know Hashimoto's people have an aversion to water. The chemically sensitive should drink a lot of water, too. It helps with detoxification and dehydration makes one susceptible to EMF sensitivities.

I also have bad water history after living on a farm with a well that got contaminated and sent relatives to the hospital. I've lived in cities with bad drinking water that smelled to high heaven or came out of the tap brown. Consequently, I've lived off of distilled (dead) bottled water most of my life. I have a life-long physical, emotional, and mental aversion to water. Still, I must drink water if I want this colon to work.

Eight months ago I started trying to drink lots of water. Somedays I succeeded. Most days I did not. Lately I've been very diligent and it helps to be getting my water supply from an artesian well so knowing it's fresh, clean, and filled with nutrients makes me feel better. And free! In the last month or so I've been religious about water.

Soon I noticed I was taking too much Miralax. I cut it down to one cap a day, then a half a cap a day. I was still taking too much. Whoa! I went without for a couple days but panicked. In past months I had tried to stop Miralax only to have my colon turn to cement within twelve hours. I resumed the Miralax only to find fecal snakes swimming in the toilet. Then I stopped completely. It's been two weeks without Miralax. As long as I don't overeat and drink copious amounts of water, everything seems to be working.  (Knock on wood!) Not perfectly, but at least I don't need Miralax.

How much to drink? The standard is eight glasses a day which is what we've been told for centuries, however, this complies only with the lab rat theory that we are all alike. I've used this argument to justify my lack of water proclaiming I'M NOT EXACTLY LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! Now I confess I probably am like everyone else, however, I am gravitationally gifted (fat) so I need more than the typical lab rat.

There is a math formula according to one's weight:

(Your weight) x .67 = ounces of daily water intake

Adjust for strenuous activity or hot weather. So a person who is 175 lbs would need 117 ounces of water per day for optimum health. That's a lot!

I should be drinking 107 ounces which is a challenge. So far I'm up to about 72 ounces and working on it. This is a huge accomplishment for someone who wouldn't drink any water! I get up, drink twelve ounces immediately, go for a walk, drink another twelve ounces. An hour after breakfast drink another twelve ounces, etc. At first it was really difficult and I felt like I was drowning.  Not only did drinking all this water make me choke, but I kept inhaling the water down my windpipe. If I drink it too soon after a meal I burp it up if I move wrong. Gross.  Who has time to constantly stop and drink water ALL DAY LONG? What about people who don't have as much access to clean water? Obviously I'm still trying to overcome my mental block.

Besides the awesome working colon, I also notice the veins on my arms are bulging and I'm sleeping better without the Miralax side effects. I do notice I don't have to pee every ten minutes which was a hassle for a while and I try to stop drinking water after 5:00pm. I'm still getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, but actually not as often as my body at night was busy trying to flush out the Miralax poison and now it's just processing water. I'm sweating way more than I used to, but I know a symptom of Hashimoto's is very little if any sweating. We probably all need to drink more water!

HOORAY!

Happiness is a Twirly Thing

I dug an old laminated map out of my teaching archives, spent $20 on beads, and perfected the fine art of pinwheel construction! The key is light-weight laminated paper, no bigger than 9 x 9, slippery (glass) beads with big holes, three inch nails, and a post that is sturdy enough to not sway in the wind. Oh, and taller the better to reach above my fence.

It was a challenge finding beads with holes large enough to accommodate a nail. I went to a bead warehouse that must have had a million different beads to select from, and maybe ten varieties were suitable.

So I've gone crazy. At this point I don't even care if they drive the moles/voles crazy, although that would be nice. When they start twirling it makes me so happy!

It took some adjustment to get used to the noise. I kept thinking an animal was in the yard running through the garden, or a bird flying nearby.

I especially like the double ones. This one can be seen from my kitchen window:

I made a double one for the front yard.

This one seems to twirl non-stop:

I now have five in the backyard, two on the east side, one double on the west side, and five in the front yard. Next I think I'll paint some designs on paper, laminate it, and see how that works. I'm thinking I should hang them all over my house and fence, too, like a crazy person.

I've also ordered some red fox urine...I figure it'll keep everything out of my yard.

Self-Reliance

It's home improvement season! I have a whole list of projects that need to get done. I intend to do most of them myself, but there are a two that give me pause. The first involves cutting a hole in my roof. I'm not excited about that.

The second is replacing a rotten fence post, the one that supports the gate. This is the same thirty-year old fence I repair every year. I know how difficult it is with the rotten wood, rusty screws, rusty nails and huge, heavy plugs of cement. This is the gate post. I'm sure they used a huge amount of cement to stabilize it. Will I be able to get that plug out of the hole? And then pouring cement and cutting the post to size which I can't do because I don't have the proper tools. Hmmm.

I received a recommendation for a new construction worker in the area. He's supposed to be knowledgeable and honest. That's rare. I email him and of course he's very busy with the summer projects of others. We confirm a date for a quote and I make it really clear not to wear perfumes, colognes or scented products. The date gets postponed several times. I'm feeling impatient, but not only do I want the quote, but I want his advice especially on the roof.

Just as I'm about to give up on him, he shows. He's very nice and professional. His wife is with him and she is also very nice. I smell something on him (not her), but truthfully, I'm excited to find a new construction worker so I go into denial. He won't be in the house.  Maybe I can just avoid him?

He quotes both projects, each will take one hour plus supplies and he comes up with about $100 for each. Hmmm...OK. I get a whiff of his stink again. I can't identify it. I ignore it. I announce I'm excited.

His wife says, "Are you excited about the price? You think it's a good price?"

I clarify, "I'm excited to get things done."

As I wait to hear from him, I stress out. He stunk. I had migraines all night. It could have been worse, but that's bad enough. I make it a practice not to give money to stinky people. I don't really want to hire him, but I don't want to do these things myself. Maybe he'll be too busy to get back to me?

A day or two later he emails me his written quote...$150.00 for the roof and $200.00 for the post and he forgot the cost of the 4x4 post in the quote so add on $20.00 for $220. WHAT THE HELL!!? No way am I paying that much! Did the wife think I would be happy to spend extra? I have hired handymen to replace posts in the past and at the most it costs $50.00. I was willing to pay $100 for quality work, but now even that sounds too expensive.

Today I got working on the fence post. As expected, rusty screws that kept breaking, nails that wouldn't budge. Then I get to the cement plug and dig and dig and dig. Yep, it's twice as big as any I've seen and more importantly, I've lost my thingy-majiggy. You know that big metal thing I use to cantilever heavy things. I have no idea where it is or what I did with it. How do I get this monster cement plug out of that hole without it? I think. I tried a few other things, a broom handle, a small crowbar, then I found a metal pipe which allowed me to move the plug back and forth in the hole a little. I watched a few online videos with men and their man tools doing fancy removals, but I don't have the fancy man tools. Heck, I don't even have my thingy-majiggy!

I go out to the hole and ponder. I move the cement back and forth, thinking, thinking, thinking. I can do this, but how? And then an idea comes to me...if I can refill the hole from the bottom up which might push the cement plug up higher and higher, maybe I can get it high enough and just roll it out?

I can't believe that worked! I actually did a happy dance.

I'm using that cement plug as a sentry-sculpture outside my gate. I can't move it anywhere else. I should go find the other plug I left in the bushes last year,  roll it over, put it on the opposite side of the steps and call it art. LOL!

SO BEAUTIFUL! And so tall!
I don't have tools to cut it so it'll stay tall.
I'll put a bird house on it.

So I just saved myself $200.00!!  Next is the roof...I can do this!!! Who needs a construction worker? Useless people....

Garden Update

My fruit trees are going crazy. More fruit than I've ever had before. I guess it pays to spray them down all winter with sulfur.

The apple tree is so crowded it has expelled at least a thousand apples as it self-thins.

Below is the second bucket of baby apples that sacrificed themselves for their bigger and stronger siblings. I just hope the apples that survive don't look ugly like they did last year. Crossing my fingers the sulfur worked on the fungus/virus/bacteria or whatever that was. We'll see. It's a learning process for sure.

The Italian prune tree is the same and all the extra prunes are now turning yellow and falling off. I'm trying to help both trees by thinning them by hand as well.

The cherry tree has never had so many cherries. It has two different varieties and the early variety is packed, more cherries than I've ever seen. As I recall, last year this variety produced about two cherries. And that is not an exaggeration!

The squash and carrots on the deck are doing well, too!

I have a really hard time thinning plants. In these two tubs I think I planted eight seeds each. I knew I couldn't keep them all, but at the time I didn't think they would all sprout. ARGH! It was like murdering babies. I ended up keeping two plants in each tub which is probably too many, but I couldn't kill the last one. They seem to be alright so far, but maybe when their vines start spreading they won't want their mate in the tub with them!

The fig tree, on the other hand, has produced NOTHING.

The friend that gave it to me told me to put it in a pot as I wanted to take it with me when I move, but I think that was bad advice. Another friend said when he put his fig in the ground it finally started producing. I'll transplant it this fall, but the problem is I don't know where! I've run out of full-sun space.

June Movie Reviews

*****  Exceptional

****    Great

***      OK

**        So So

*          Blah

The Ballad of Lefty Brown is about Lefty Brown (Bill Pullman) as the archetypal side kick to famed lawman and newly elected first senator of Montana (Peter Fonda). He's old, thought of as foolish and useless, and never mentioned in the western dime novels where his lawmen friends are worshipped as heroes. He's a bit brain dead, slow to understand what is going on around him. His friend and partner of forty years, the sheriff/senator,  is murdered and Lefty vows to avenge his death. I would have never recognized Bill Pullman. It was good, but a little difficult to understand some of the dialogue with his broken, slurred, hillbilly speech. There were a few unrealistic scenes where he didn't get shot, but he should have. A little too contrived. Loved the kid. All-star cast. ***

Black Panther I absolutely hate superhero movies. I hate all the excessive fighting, extended chase scenes, melodramatic generic plots, fantastic unrealistic costumes, bizarre cartoonish special effects, fake dramatic dialogue, and the horrid, ear-splitting music. This one, however, had a great basic story with enormous potential. Loved the African history themes, loved the rhinos, loved the secret, high-tech civilization hidden in the middle of the African jungle, loved the creative technology, loved the accents, loved the strong women characters, and it had some great LOL moments, but it very weakly introduced some potentially strong themes and didn't follow through.  Instead of presenting those themes with well-developed characters and human relationships that incited compassion and empathy from the audience, they just introduced them in strategically placed speeches. Blah. Like most superhero movies, it lacks humanity. It starts out with a father and son talk on heritage, then featuring more children - I had high hopes. Then they drop it. The bad guy seemed to be a commentary on the African American condition: denied his heritage and family, he grows up bitter and resentful, destined for prison or death. But with all this anger, he is very successful and full of potential only to use it for revenge and power. I think they could have done so much more with his character so we would feel and understand his pain. Of course, without a bad guy or without the defeat of the bad guy, this wouldn't have been a superhero movie. And because of this dedication to a fixed plot line compliant with the superhero genre, this character could have never been rehabilitated through forgiveness and compassion. This is exactly why I hate superhero movies: they never expand beyond their tiny little boxes. I also wonder why such an advanced society still has a male dominant succession that is based on brute strength rather than, for instance, cognitive ability or just plain goodness? The civilization is still after all those years xenophobic and isolated, fearful of discovery, willing to go to hand to hand combat with their own people even with all their anti-war pronouncements. They are still reactive to the badness of the world rather than focusing on fixing the world. Doesn't seem to be that advanced. Near the end we can see some evolution and progression in this direction, but it sure has taken them a long time. For a superhero movie, I actually liked it, watched it to the end, and didn't feel too disgusted. Although clearly there are aspects I didn't like, I'm still giving it four stars because it made me think for days. ****

Blade Runner 2049 I was desperate for something to watch so the librarian slipped me this DVD from her secret stash. She asked if I'd seen the original Blade Runner. I don't know. Probably. I don't think I have for the same reason I shouldn't have watched this one either - I hate sci fi. But the sets were fascinating. The future is very dirty...and violent. The story is very convoluted, of course. I almost turned it off a few times, got up and walked around. Eventually I did turn it off. Then I thought maybe I should see the actual end. Sci-fi fans would love it. I'm sure it's a great story. The performances were good. I just don't like sci-fi. **

Brad's Status was about the culture of comparison, or how we ruminate over whether we are as good as others, as successful, as happy, as pretty, as healthy, or whatever. It centers on Brad (Ben Stiller) who is taking his son to visit colleges. He reminisces about his own college years and his college friends who are all now very successful. One is in government and has his own TV show, another sold his tech company and retired at age 40 in Hawaii, the other is a famous Hollywood movie director who's house is featured in a magazine, and the last owns his own hedge fund and private jet. Brad runs a non-profit organization. He questions his failure at life. Why did he have lofty ideas about improving society? Why didn't he sell out and go for the money? Immediately it was obvious the guy wasn't poor or unfortunate in some way so I thought he seemed like a whiner, sniffling about how everyone at a dinner party was judging his failure. I thought I wish I could go to a dinner party! Then one of his son's friends accused him of suffering from white male privilege, assured him he has enough, and compared his situation to the people from her country who are lucky if they can spend $2 on dinner let alone get to go to a dinner party. My thoughts exactly. I know I'm guilty of comparing my life to the lives of others especially with MCS so I thought the whole theme was incredibly interesting. Humans are so pathetic...why can't we just enjoy being alive? I thought Ben Stiller had way too much make-up on. It was a bit distracting. I think they could have done a better job with the TITLE (!), but the movie was very thought provoking. All-star cast. ****

Bridget Jones's Diary  I loved this book. And I loved the movie. I didn't remember how good the soundtrack was. It's been a long time since the last time I've seen it. They are all so young and gorgeous (Hugh Grant, Colin Firth). *****

Brimstone is about the very hard life of a woman (Dakota Fanning) in the American West. All-star cast, great performances, very interesting story. I'm not sure how I feel about the four way split of scenes and the time travel. It adds to the intrigue because one is constantly wondering WHY? Why can't she speak? Why is she afraid of that man? Why does she have a step-son? Constantly asking why. I kept wondering if the story would have been as good if it had a linear timeline without the mystery, but in the end I rather enjoyed the mystery. Kit Harrington has a great role, although small. Great performances, even from Fanning. Excellent sets and costumes.  ****

Don Juan DeMarco was about a twenty-one year old (Johnny Depp) who thinks he's Don Juan. He romances the women and they all drool over him. His psychiatrist is an incredibly overweight Marlon Brando. It was uncomfortable just watching him move. His breathing was labored. His lines were a struggle. It was horrifying to watch and the plot was a little stupid. Even Johnny Depp was too young to be dreamy. I turned it off after about ten minutes. *

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool was based on a true story about the last years of actress Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening). In 1979 while in England performing in a play she meets a young English man and they fall in love. The age difference is interesting with her denial a little pathetic.  Every wrong comment he makes about her age she becomes offended and dramatic. For some reason the relationship survives the stress. Then she finds out she has cancer, treats him like crap and kicks him out, and when she's dying shows up in his hometown wanting to be cared for. For some reason when I saw the previews I thought this was a comedy. Boy, I was wrong. Great performances. Depressing on so many levels. Bening was outstanding. ***

A Girl Like Her is about a high school girl who is being bullied relentlessly by another high school girl.  It's filmed like a documentary which is a little confusing since it's so staged. The underlying message is bullies are hurting others because they are hurting. They presented the bully as someone who didn't really understand what she was doing. I understand maybe some bullies might not understand what they are doing is wrong, but she was pretty evil, violent, sociopathic and heartless, texting the girl repeatedly telling her to kill herself, pushing her in the halls, getting in her face. When she's confronted, she throws a temper tantrum about how no one can take a joke and she was misunderstood. When the video footage surfaces as proof, she becomes remorseful. I just kept thinking she's remorseful because she got caught and that's it! It was interesting. I had bullies harass me in high school. I doubt very much if they would ever be remorseful. It was all about power and insecurity. ***

Home Again is about a recently separated mother (Reese Witherspoon) who moves from New York to Los Angeles to live in her famous, (but dead) filmmaker-father's house. Can I have that house???? On her 40th birthday, out on the town with girlfriends she meets three young handsome filmmakers trying to break into the industry who have just been kicked out of their motel. Her mother (Candice Bergen) invites them to stay her daughter's guesthouse.  They become part of the family, helpful in every way, and then her almost ex-husband shows up begging her to take him back. I've never even heard of this movie. I was afraid it was a stupid comedy, but pleasantly surprised at all its heart. Great script, performances, and I loved that house. ****

In Dubious Battle is based on John Steinbeck's novel about apple pickers during the Depression when their wages were cut from $3 to $1 per day. Rebel rousers  convinced a group to strike in hopes for a living wage. Great costumes and sets, all-star cast...really depressing. It's amazing what workers had to endure to be treated with dignity. I hated that it didn't have an ending that was satisfying and only a history lesson on the ongoing violence that continued for too long until workers' rights legislation was finally passed. ***

Landline was about a family in New York with all kinds of issues: infidelity, teenagers, drugs. Loved the relationship between the sisters. I wish I had a sister. It was good. ***

Life's a Breeze is an Irish film about a family going through some financial difficulties. The adult children all get together to surprise their 80-year old mother for her birthday by cleaning her filthy, packed-to-the-ceiling-with-junk house and dumping her lifetime of pack-ratted memories. They are quite proud of themselves. She's in a state of shock and then she asks what they did with her mattress. Her life savings of one million pounds was stuffed inside it. The treasure hunt begins. It was a sad commentary on how elderly people are perceived. Her kids talk behind her back, assume she is helpless, senile, and incapable of cognitive function when in fact she is far more rational and level-headed than the whole lot of them put together. Good performances and I liked the relationship between the grandmother and her thirteen-year old granddaughter. Hate the title. ***

Little Glory is about this unemployed, immature, useless 19-year old loser who's mother died, then father died, leaving him with his nine-year old sister to raise.  His mother's sister wants custody, but he finds his father's life insurance which leaves $100,000 to his sister so he thinks he has it made, but he still can't figure out how to behave like an adult. It was good, but irritating. Stupid young people always irritate me. I don't get the title at all. ***

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, a Tim Burton film based on the book, was a peculiar movie about teenage boy whose grandfather dies violently and mysteriously. His grandfather has been telling him wild tales about monsters all his life and the children's home where unusually talented children are sent. The plot is incredibly complex and some of the imagery absolutely frightening...definitely not a children's film, but very creative and weird and wild as Tim Burton movies usually are. Loved the sets. I would have preferred less bizarre complexity and more human nature as there were plenty of scenes full of potential. There were parts of the story that went right over my head. Great cast: Asa Butterfield, Judy Dench, Allison Janney, Samuel L. Jackson, Rupert Everett. ***

Never Forget to Lie is a documentary about Jewish children during the Holocaust who were smuggled out of the Warsaw ghetto away from their families to live in Christian homes so they had a chance to survive. In the film, they go back to Warsaw to visit the places they remember. It was very sad. ***

Peter Rabbit is a live-action, animated? modern day movie about Peter Rabbit! What's not to love? Although they were wearing clothes, walked on hind legs, talked and could climb things like trees and buildings (someone confused them with raccoons I think...), they moved and behaved like rabbits which was very sweet. It did have a lot of stupid humor but kids would love. I love the deer...LOL. ***

The Pretty One is about twins. Audrey is vivacious , confident, employed, and well-dressed. Laurel still lives at home, does everything for her father, mousy, insecure, quiet and wears her dead mother's clothes. On their birthday Audrey visits, gets her sister a makeover, talks her into coming to live with her so she can start living her own life, then they are in a car accident and Audrey dies. Laurel is thrown from the car and is thought to suffer from amnesia due to a bump on the head. Because her hair has been cut shorter, she's wearing make-up and she was in the passenger seat, everyone thinks she's Audrey who burned in the fire. Laurel then takes on Audrey's identity after going to her own funeral and realizing everyone thought she was weird and didn't seem to even care she was dead. It's a great story. I thought it was going to be a comedy and it would have been a good comedy, but it's definitely a drama (however quirky) about grief. ***

Riding My Way Back is a 30-minute documentary about veterans with PTSD and other injuries who have benefited from therapeutic riding and equine care for healing.  ***

Step is about an inner city private girls' school in Baltimore with a competing step team. Great story. A little slow and at times very boring. **

The Vanishing of Sidney Hall is about a young, best-selling author who experiences a variety of traumatic events in his life and takes off to lose himself. He is being tracked by a man although it's not clear who the man is until later in the movie. Lots of time jumping which was a little confusing. Great story and performances. ***

Wildflower is about a young college art student who is having blackouts, nightmares, and flashbacks. When she comes out of it she has a whole pile of drawing illustrating what she has seen. She sees people who aren't there. It ends up being about repressed childhood trauma. Lots of God talk, performances are tolerable, and script a little needy, but interesting story. **

Winchester is ghost story based on the history of the Winchester mansion in California. Helen Mirren plays Sarah Winchester. The sets and actual house are really cool. It's a little scary for me. I don't like demonic dead people, but it was good. Perhaps a little melodramatic as ghost stories usually are. ***