Died Suddenly - A Documentary

Documentary will be streamed on November 21. Watch it, tell your family to watch it. It is no longer a conspiracy if healthy people of all ages suddenly dropping like flies. I hope this can be reversed.

Romantic Killer

tags: anime, comedy, Netflix streaming, romance

12 episodes

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A "non-heroine type" high school girl is thrown into a situation like something straight out of a dating simulation game! This slapstick adolescent romantic comedy follows the romance-averse Anzu.

Anzu Hoshino is a "non-heroine type" high school girl who pays no attention to fashion or romance and spends every day playing video games. After the wizard Riri suddenly appears and confiscates Anzu's three favorite things — video games, chocolate, and cats — she gets pursued by hot guys!

Super funny anime series. It's a departure from the usual anime love story. Anzu is not interested in boys, not even ikemen. She just wants to play video games, eat tons of chocolate, and play with her cat Momohiki. A wizard takes over her life and is forcing her to look at handsome boys and start dating. The episodes kept me in stitches. Brilliant script. Silly but entertaining as always. 

Highly recommended.

Don Matteo

 

tags: Italian TV series, mystery-crime, Terrence Hill

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Don Matteo is a TV series set in the town of Gubbio in Perugia, Italy. It has been airing in Italy since 2000 and still ongoing. The episodes starting from Season 1 are available to borrow from Hoopla through our county library. I have seen 4 episodes so far and they are good. The series is in Italian with English subtitles.

Don Matteo is a Catholic priest who has a keen sense of people and circumstances. He is able and more than willing to help the local police in solving crimes, just like Father Brown. His best friend is one of the policemen. Terrence Hill stars as the title character Don Matteo. He is 82 now and still filming the series.

Highly recommended for TV mystery viewers who don't mind reading subtitles.

Ulysses

From Amazon.com

Ulysses is a modernist novel by Irish writer James Joyce. It was first serialized from March 1918 to December 1920 and then published in its entirety in February 1922.

It is considered one of the most important works of modernist literature and has been called a demonstration and summation of the entire movement. Ulysses chronicles the peripatetic appointments and encounters of Leopold Bloom in Dublin in the course of an ordinary day, 16 June 1904.

Ulysses is the Latinized name of Odysseus, the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey, and the novel establishes a series of parallels between the poem and the novel, with structural correspondences between the characters and experiences of Leopold Bloom and Odysseus, Molly Bloom and Penelope, and Stephen Dedalus and Telemachus, in addition to events and themes of the early 20th-century context of modernism, Dublin, and Ireland's relationship to Britain.

The novel is highly allusive and also imitates the styles of different periods of English literature. The novel's stream-of-consciousness technique, careful structuring, and experimental prose—replete with puns, parodies, and allusions—as well as its rich characterization and broad humor, have led it to be regarded as one of the greatest literary works in history; Joyce fans worldwide now celebrate 16 June as Bloomsday.

This book didn't interest me one bit when I joined a reading challenge of sorts many moons ago. I was discouraged by the reviews which are divided - love or hate, nothing in between. Some negative reviews say it is very difficult to read, hard to understand, doesn't make sense, life is too short to read an unreadable book, people who claim they have read it are liars/pretentious, etc. I avoided it and all of James Joyce's books even if I had nothing else in my stash or Kindle.

A few months ago, one of my favorite funnies drew Celebrate Literary Day, and one of them is Pretend You Have Read Ulysses Day. It made me chuckle and I decided maybe it's time to take a stab at it.

I did not expect to like the book nor finish it. It is moderately long at 740+ pages and took me a little over 1 month to finish although I feel like I never really finished it and I won't pretend I understood all of what I read. I will definitely read it again and couldn't care less if I won't be able to fully understand all of it. I refuse to read books/publications that explain each episode. That would be retarded if you need a book that explains what you are reading and I want to interpret them myself.

I love the book anyway and the prose is beautiful, often hilarious, and reminds me a little of the style of writing on some parts ofThe Last Samurai. I didn't find it too difficult to read although I gave up on the Latin passages. No need to dwell on those. James Joyce was a genius. Yeah.

The Bullet That Missed

tags: British series, mystery, septuagenarians, Thursday Murder Club #3

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From Goodreads

It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should finally be returning to normal.

Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club are concerned. A local news legend is on the hunt for a sensational headline, and soon the gang are hot on the trail of two murders, ten years apart.

To make matters worse, a new nemesis pays Elizabeth a visit, presenting her with a deadly mission: kill or be killed...

While Elizabeth grapples with her conscience (and a gun), the gang and their unlikely new friends (including TV stars, money launderers and ex-KGB colonels) unravel a new mystery. But can they catch the culprit and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?

I was eagerly awaiting the latest addition to the mystery series and was disappointed. I'm in the minority because the novel has a very high rating on Goodreads.

IMHO, the regulars, the two "bad" villains, and the mystery itself are too cartoonish. There are too many additional characters and the original side characters were set aside. Not good but I'm not saying bye bye yet to Mr. Richard Osman.. I will still read the next one.

Derry Girls Final Season

tags: British sit-com, Catholic school, Netflix

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Third and final season of Derry Girls is now streaming on Netflix. Liam Neeson does a cameo on Episode 1 and is absolutely perfect looking tired and weary interrogating the girls. He gave up after listening to Uncle Colm. Great acting and I wonder if he was trying not to laugh. 

Watch all 7 episodes.

Last Seen Alive

tags: drama, Netflix streaming, movie, thriller

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Will Spann is driving his wife to her parents’ house. They stop at a gas station on the way where his wife mysteriously disappears. He is bewildered and begins to panic, but then suspects foul play. He alerts the authorities but becomes a prime suspect. Detective Paterson leads the investigation and suspects that Will may have a hand in his wife’s disappearance.

Hollywood is hopeless. Good entertaining movies from Hollywood are very rare these days. The only ones I enjoyed this year are Uncharted and Father Stu and I'm not even a fan of Mark Wahlberg. I watched to see if Gerald Butler's acting and Hollywood have improved. No to both.

This movie has no entertainment value to me. I couldn't decide who is the most annoying character because everyone is super annoying: the wife, the parents-in-law, the policeman, the side characters, and Gerald Butler as the husband. I'm sorry but Gerald simply cannot act. In the the first few minutes he and his wife are whispering. In the car. While driving to her parents' house. Why?

His driving also annoyed me. He is constantly moving the steering wheel left and right left and right left and right. On a straight paved smooth highway. Who drives like that? Then he drives like a maniac at the gas station. Idiot.

The wife is approached by a man just outside the door of the convenience store and disappears, her phone off. Frantic husband goes looking for her inside the store and around the gas station, shouting her name loudly every 2 feet. He looks and sounds familiar. Wait a minute, I've seen this lousy scene before. Yep. Same inferior acting. Sigh.

Annoying husband goes to the parents-in-law who are also extremely annoying. Their exchange of dialog is exasperating. Now he goes to the police. What do you know, the policeman is also annoying and an even lousier actor than Gerald. I soon realize this movie is becoming a contest as to what character will annoy me the most. Sheesh!

The story has been done a gazillion times before so nothing is fresh and will put one to sleep. Adding to Hollywood cliché the group who kidnapped the wife are involved in making illicit drugs. But of course!

Not recommended unless you are a fan of Gerald Butler.

The Fellowship Of The Ring

tags: adventure, fantasy, thriller

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From Goodreads

The Fellowship of the Ring is the first part of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic adventure, The Lord of the Rings.

Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him all the Rings of power - the means by which he intends to rule Middle-earth. All he lacks in his plan for dominion is the One Ring - the ring that rules them all - which has fallen in the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins. In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

The Lord of the Rings is once again on entertainment news because of Amazon's original prequel series based on the book series and The Silmarillion. Viewers are divided between liking and hating the series because once again woke Hollywood added Blacks for diversity crap. Galadriel also is portrayed differently than the book. Because strong female...Galadriel is an Elven queen, not a warrior! Amazon had to temporarily remove reviews because there were more 1 star and negative reviews than positive.

Viewers are simply tired of seeing classic literature bastardized to satisfy racial diversity equality stupidity. For example. Ariel, the little mermaid is played by a Black actress and it deserves being mocked by several memes, changing the hair color to red, lightening the skin, and making the nose narrower because why would a Danish author make his character Black? Disney did not invent Ariel. I hope it bombs at the box office.

When the debate on the Black Hobbit became an issue with viewers, Neil Gaiman had a Twitter meltdown defending the Black actor included in the series mentioning that there are "brown Hobbits" in the book. I don't remember that when I read it eons ago. So I read it again. THERE ARE NO BLACK OR BROWN HOBBITS AND DWARVES EVER! Browner of skin does not mean they are Black.

"There are 3 different breeds of Hobbits. The Harfoots are the browner of skin, smaller, shorter, and they are beardless and bootless, their hands and feet were neat and nimble, and they preferred highlands and hillsides."

Woke Hollywood and authors like Neil Gaiman should stop their nonsense already! Stop forcing Blacks and Asians playing characters in movie and TV adaptations of novels that have original white European people on viewing public. They should instead encourage non Whites to research their culture, make movies about them, and stop appropriating white culture. Colored people invented the term "cultural appropriation", now the tables are turned and let's see if they recognize themselves. Ha! These wokesters are killing their own industry by making viewers puke at every woke production they come up with. No money for you!

I remember reading the main character Maggie Tulliver in George Eliot's The Mill On The Floss described as dark complexioned. Her parents are white English people but she is the only dark complexioned child among her cousins and brother. It doesn't mean she is Black or Asian, or some other colored race. In fact she is frustrated with her extremely straight hair that refuses to curl no matter what she does. When she was acting up and bratty, she ran away from home and went to a homestead where a gypsy family lives, thinking because she has browner skin they'll accept her as their own. It's a good thing George Eliot's books are not popular with Hollywood. Otherwise, they'll make Maggie a Black girl with kinky hair just because she is dark complexioned.

BBC produced films and TV series based on 5 George Eliot books. I've only seen Silas Marner with Ben Kingsley [half Indian half English] as Silas and a bit of Middlemarch. Silas Marner is good but Middlemarch was awful. I haven't seen the other 3 - Daniel Deronda, Adam Bede, The Mill On The Floss -  and don't plan to. They usually ruin the original by  casting super old actors to portray children and teenagers. 

Georgy Girl

tags: Amazon streaming, 1966 British movie, comedy, drama, romance

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From Wikipedia

Georgy Girl is a 1966 British romantic comedy-drama film directed by Silvio Narizzano and stars Lynn Redgrave, in the titular role, Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates, and James Mason. It was based on the 1965 novel by Margaret Forster.

The plot follows the story of a virginal young woman in 1960s Swinging London who is faced with a dilemma when she is pursued by her father's older employer and the young lover of her promiscuous, pregnant flatmate.

I've heard of the song Georgy Girl but never knew there is a movie with the same name. I checked IMDB to see if I've seen any movie with Lynn Redgrave. Nope, not one although I've seen several of her sister Vanessa's old movies. What a shame. Lynn was good in this movie. And so are the rest of the cast. I love the dialog and the great acting by everyone. And the song.

Charlotte Rampling plays Meredith, the elegant and beautiful flatmate of Georgy. Meredith goes on dates with other men although she has a steady boyfriend. Meredith is the opposite of Georgy who is not attractive with her dry wiry hair and frumpy clothes.

Highly recommended. Watch it on Amazon streaming.

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The Seekers Georgy Girl song was written for the movie

Spoilers

The Enigma of Room 622

tags: dramedy, mystery

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From Goodreads

One night in December, a corpse is found in Room 622 of the Hotel Verbier, a luxury hotel in the Swiss Alps. A police investigation begins without definite end, and public interest wanes with the passage of time. Years later, the writer Joel Dicker, Switzerland's most famous literary ingenue, arrives at that same hotel to recover from a bad breakup, mourn the death of his longtime publisher, and begin his next novel. Little does Joel know that his expertise in the art of the thriller will come in handy when he finds himself investigating the crime. He'll need a Watson, of course: in this case, that would be Scarlett, the beautiful guest and aspiring novelist from the next room, who joins in the search while he tries to solve another puzzle: the plot of his next book. Meanwhile, in the wake of his father's passing, Macaire Ebezner is set to take over as president of the largest private bank in Switzerland. The succession captivates the news media, and the future looks bright, until it doesn't. The bank's board, including a certain Lev Levovitch - Geneva's very own Jay Gatsby - have other plans, and Macaire's race to the top soon becomes a race against time... A matryoshka doll of a mystery built with the precision of a Swiss watch. Joel Dicker presents a diabolically addictive thriller where a love triangle, a power struggle, shocking betrayals and dangerous envy play out against the backdrop of a not so quiet Switzerland, where the truth twists and turns into something no reader will see coming. A European phenomenon, Dicker's latest page-turner is his most personal novel yet

This is the first novel I've read by this young Swiss author. The novel is full of flaws and at first I was not liking it but I found myself laughing at the absurd characters and story and slowly realized I was loving it up to the very last twist at the end. Speaking of twists, a novel usually has just one or two. Enigma has several twists that I failed to guess who was dead and who killed him until all the possible characters and suspects have been cleared. In the book, the author Joel Dicker misses and pays tribute to his long time publisher who just died and he does it nicely without being maudlin or intrusive in the main story.

The dialog, situations, the love triangle, the unbelievable characters are silly but oh so entertaining. The author wrote himself into the story which is not a new idea because William Goldman wrote a fictional character of himself in The Princess Bride. I am comparing the silliness and comic book feel of Enigma to the The Princess Bride, being almost a satire maybe, I am not sure. The book is a tad long at over 600 pages, my only complaint, but I didn't notice because I was enjoying the novel. The mystery of Room 622 storyline was confusing at the beginning because of the several timelines jumping back and forth but I got used to it and didn't mind after 200 pages. I just paid attention to the years things happened, what's what, and who's who. 

Great read. Highly recommended for readers with sense of humor and adventure.