I just finishing listening to one of my all-time favorite books, West with the Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge. My book club will be discussing it November forth on my recommendation and I'm anxious to see if others like the story as much as I do. It's probably my forth time listening to it and I enjoyed it every bit as much this time as the first, maybe more. Multiple exposures to favorite books or movies are like that. You pick up on nuances you missed the first time around and you are more apt to enjoy the build up to the the climax in the story, knowing what's a head. I won't bore you with a full-on review of the book. I did that back in 2021 here in an entire post devoted to the giraffes.
But before I leave that book behind I can't resist sharing one of my favorite passages. It speaks to me and about me every time I try to come up with something meaningful or at least entertaining to write: "In a long life, there is a singular moment when you know you’ve made more memories than any new ones you'll ever make. That’s when the moment your truest stories---the ones that made you the you that you became---are ever more in the front of your mind, as you begin to reach back for the you that you deemed best…[but] what I hadn’t noticed was that my mind was wearing out, too. Even the memories a body holds most dear become like scratchy old phonographs records played too long, fading in and out with little sound and even less fury.”
Today when I sat down to write I knew I wanted to do a post about some of the Netflix fare I've been consuming. I binge watch about an hour and a half every night and I'm running out of stuff that holds my interest. One of the better binges I've done this month, though, was Your Honor. IMDb says this about it: "A judge confronts his convictions when his son is involved in a hit-and-run that embroils an organized-crime family." If ever there was a series that is a cautionary tale against lying this is it. One lie quickly mushroomed into bigger and bigger lies and bigger and bigger crimes until just about everyone involved was either dead or in jail by the closing episode. I like stuff with strong cliffhangers that keep you guessing from one episode to another and for that reason Your Honor held my interest.
On the lighter side a ten episode binge called No One Wants This was a good 'palate cleanser' following the mayhem in the above mentioned Netflix series. The trailer labels it as: "An agnostic sex podcaster and a newly single rabbi fall in love; discovering if their relationship survive their wildly different lives and meddling families." The viewer is left at the end to be a little dissatisfied, not knowing if they will get their happy ending. Or maybe it just hinted at happy ending to leave the door open to another season? Whatever the case, with its quirky characters and half hour episodes I binge-watched it in three evenings. Another series I tried for a total of nearly five full minutes before I knew I wasn't into gross, creepy, sick crime stuff was Dexter. If you watched it and liked it don't tell me. I don't want to judge you.
Another night I watched Netflix movie called No Pressure, filmed in Poland and it's about ten years behind in what American audiences are used to in terms of acting, etc. A reviewer called it "Old Wine in a New Bottle" and I agree. Fans of romantic comedies have seen this storyline of a big city girl who comes back to the country to save the family farm and ends up falling in love with a neighboring farmer/chef/wealthy man---whatever---a million times. I'm sorry, every time I try a foreign made movie I get either bored or hypercritical.
Not that American film makers have left that tired plot behind. Hallmark Christmas movies have a giant portion of big city lonely people spending their holidays in small, mid-western towns where they find their forever person. I say 'person' rather than guy or gal because in 2022 Hallmark went woke and featured one movie with a gay couple finding-love-over-the-holidays. One movie out of their 170 Christmas movies that year. The Holiday Sitter was the first ever Hallmark movie where a gay couple was the center of the action. In 2023 Hallmark added two more LGBTQ movies to their Christmas/love lineup and I'm quite sure this turtle-slow trend is giving the Karen's of the world ulcers and contributing to their sky-is-falling dance against 'the gay issues' in our political arena. I'm so sick of Karens and Kens who want to ban books and movies. And if they insist of doing that why not start with banning the ones that give murderers tips on how to get away with their obsessions? Prioritize love over violence for crying out loud! If a teen or younger kid accidentally sees or reads about someone making love to someone they truly care about that isn't going to scar them for life like watching or reading about a psychopath dismembering a person they've been torturing for weeks in an underground cell. <Rant off.>
Yes, it's Halloween today but the Hallmark Christmas movies have been making their presence known for a few weeks already but I generally don't watch Christmas movies until we get our first snowfall. Then I'll pig out on their sweetness and goodwill toward mankind and the memories of finding love they churn up inside me. It's the only time of the year I consistently select the Hallmark Channel. I am nothing if not a creature of habit. ©
Until Next Wednesday...
I loved No One Wants This. At the. moment I'm binging on White Collar... I've forgotten most of it but the characters look familiar. The advantages of a poor memory!
ReplyDeleteWhite Collar is a favorite binge from early this year. I think I wrote about back then. It reminded me of Suits which was another favorite.
DeleteI just watched a Thriller on NetFlix called "Don't Move", very suspenseful Movie about a Serial Killer and his last Victim, who was Suicidal when he met her... it had quite a different twist which provoked much thought.
ReplyDeleteI just saw that two days ago. It's a great thriller, like you said with a different twist.
DeleteWest With Giraffes is on my reading list. I enjoyed the passage you shared.
ReplyDeleteAs for tv viewing, I know this mindset dates me, but sometimes I long for the old days when the major networks did a pretty darned good job of providing us with a variety of shows. You knew exactly which programs you'd watch, depending on the day. It seemed like we laughed more back then, too. Remember the old days when we relied on a TV antenna (no monthly fees for watching the tube, once your antenna was paid for!). When it got windy, one of us kids would go out to turn the antenna around. Mom or Dad would yell when we got it right. Oh my, life was a bit simpler back then.
I miss those days of three major networks and knowing the schedules. I hate all the choices now and it was fun being able to talk about what you watched the next day with co-coworkers, etc. ---you had a one in three chance of watching the same programs. I'm back to having an antenna for one of my TVs.
DeleteI don't know that book -- thanks for the recommendation! (And I know what you mean about a re-read of a favorite.) I haven't had netflix for a couple of years now -- there are times I miss it.
ReplyDeleteAt dinner last night I sat with five people in book club and they all said they were loving the book and couldn't put it down. It's a fictionalized book based on a true event of a trip two giraffes took across the country in the '30s and was documented in 500 newspaper articles.
DeleteWe are loving the latest season of The Lincoln Lawyer. I also loved Nobody Wants This — nice light way to end an evening without nightmares. I also watched the latest season of Emily in Paris, mostly for the scenery and clothes, because the story line is pretty fluffy. :-) And The Diplomat returns this week with Season 2. We also really enjoyed that one.
ReplyDeleteI have West with Giraffes on my Kindle and must get to it. Everyone I know who read it LOVES it.
I have to get back into the Lincoln Lawyer. I did like the other seasons. I can't bring myself to watch Emily in Paris because a radial Trump supporter raves about that show. I know, silly reason to avoid it but that's the truth. I'm pretty sure I watched The Diplomat. I look that up too.
DeleteAnd now I'm off to set up the room for our mahjong tournament and an afternoon of playing. Wish me luck that all goes as planned.
I've been dying to recommend a series I just finished on Netflix called Beef. It's about a simple road rage incident that balloons into acts of revenge that ballons into crimes that ballons into ...... It's a fascinating story, a must watch that I just happened to run into.
ReplyDeleteThank you for mentioning that series. I had it on my 'maybe' list and now its bumped up to the 'watch' list.
DeleteI am putting West with Giraffes on my reading list. Thanks, Jean! I've never understood why showing people loving each other (not talking about porn here, but actual loving relationships) onscreen is so horrifying but gory violence and cruelty in film is more than tolerated. If aliens observed our planet, they would learn a lot about humans right there. I couldn't get more than a few episodes into Dexter myself...I don't know if you subscribe to Prime, but my favourite TV series of all time is showing there now - in Canada at least, so I'm sure the US can get it too - Northern Exposure. If you can get to watch it, I recommend!
ReplyDeleteDeb
Northern Exposure was one of my husband's favorite when it was on TV and we had the VCR tapes. I did watch it again recently and I loved it just as much as I did all those years ago. I love character driven stuff with a little philosophy thrown in and Northern Exposure has both.
DeleteWatching shows on my laptop in bed is one of my favorite hobbies. When I learn about a new season, I go back and watch the previous ones before I watch the new one. To refresh the characters. I love learning about NEW (to me) TV series to start. Big thanks to all your followers too!
ReplyDeleteThat's why it's good to do a post on this topic from time to time. I always learn about something (new to me) to try.
DeleteI cannot stand people who want to ban stuff just because they are offended, all they need to do is not read the book or don't watch the movie or whatever. Damn I like stuff my husband finds weird or boring like the show Northern Exposure yeah I watched it too and liked it
ReplyDeleteI can't stand book banners either. Half the time they haven't even read the books they want pulled from the libraries. Now, it's not just from school libraries they want them pull but from public libraries as well.
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