Invictus

This past week has just plain sucked. I haven't been up to par and have dragged around the house feeling flu-ish, achy and exhausted for 5 days now. I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm getting plenty of rest, reading and watching movies.

Today we rented "Invictus" and it was a fantastic movie. This is the true story of Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) as he was released from prison after 27 years, then became South Africa's President in their first truly democratic election. In his efforts to unite the country, he enlists the captain of the rugby team (Matt Damon) to go all out and take the team to the World Cup in 1995.

I'm not much for politics or sporting events, but this movie had me in goose bumps and tears. During his time in prison, Mandela was fond of reading and quoting the poem "Invictus," written by William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) who suffered from tuberculosis of the bone.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

This movie, directed by Clint Eastwood, was beautifully done, a story well told and so worth watching. I'd highly recommend it!

And now I'm going to go lay down again ...

"Up in the Air" about Movies

Happy New Year! We had our usual quiet New Year's Eve at home. We're not ones to go out on the road to celebrate this occasion. I stepped out onto our front doorstep with a noisemaker at midnight and hollered Happy New Year to the empty street while hubby laughed at me from inside the house. It was perfect!

We just got home from seeing "Up In the Air" starring George Clooney. He plays a "terminator" who goes around the country firing people for various companies that don't want to do it themselves. He is a more-than-frequent flier who feels like he is providing a valuable service, helping to let these people go in a face-to-face personable way. With all of his traveling, he doesn't have a home life ... or even a home. It was a fascinating movie, especially if you like to ponder the psychology of people and situations. It is very thought-provoking but I am a happy ending kind of girl and this one didn't cut it. I usually gauge how much I liked a movie by whether or not I'd like to see it again as I'm leaving the theater. This one, not so much.

One of my favorites this year was "The Blind Side" with Sandra Bullock. If she doesn't get an award for her role in this, I'll be sorely disappointed. It is the wonderful true story about a well-to-do white family in Texas who takes in a homeless black boy, Michael Oher, and wholeheartedly makes him a part of their family. He goes on to college as an All American football player. This was a heartwarming story of love and encouragement that I am looking forward to seeing again.

If you've read the Twilight books, you know "New Moon" is the second in the series and the movie was terrific. They did a nice job with the supernatural changes, turning people into werewolves on-screen. This ongoing saga of a high school girl who falls in love with a vampire, and whose best friend just happens to be a werewolf, is fairytale great. Looking forward to the third one.

We saw a few animated movies with the Granddaughter, including "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" and "Up." The Chipmunks movie was just plain fun. There was a lot more to "Up" than just a cartoon, including love, death, mourning, trust and loyalty. Definitely an all-around great cartoon for kids and adults. Carl's voice (the senior citizen in the movie) was done by Ed Asner, who I've always loved. I once stood in a long, long line in Las Vegas to meet him and have a photo signed by him. (Not sure where it is right now, but it's here somewhere!)

And, of course, my favorite, favorite movie of the year was "Julie and Julia." We rented it recently and I fell in love with it all over again. It just makes me smile. I now have my own Blu-ray copy on order from Amazon and when it gets here, I'll happily watch it again.

We saw other movies this year, but those were the standouts.

So, New Year's resolutions anybody? I have a few ...

Continue to get organized. Sometime during 2010, I will have gone through every single drawer and cupboard and closet in this house and cleaned. We keeping using the word minimalist, which means a lot more donating and garage sale-ing, as well as just plain throwing stuff out.

Work on my zen. I will let things go, dismiss those that aggravate and frustrate me, and just be happy ... in the moment.

Eat more salads. And that's as close as I'll get to the word diet.

Take more walks. And that's as close as I'll get to the word exercise.

Happy New Year!

Movie Review: Julie & Julia

Went to see "Julie & Julia" starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. I read the book about a year ago and had heard they were making a movie. So often when I have read the book and then eagerly await seeing the movie, I am sadly disappointed. This was not the case.

684 pages of recipes
plus 32 pages of index

They did a beautiful job! Meryl Streep was absolutely wonderful playing Julia Child. She really had her warbling voice and mannerisms down. Stanley Tucci was so terrific as Paul Child. I remember watching Julia Child cooking on TV years ago and it never once crossed my mind that she had this beautiful romance and sex life going on. They were truly made for each other.

Amy Adams as Julie Powell and Chris Messina as her husband, Eric Powell, were so endearing. What a supportive husband he was through this project. The way he dived into her dishes as she cooked her way through "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" was adorable. It is so great to cook for someone who appreciates it -- and will try anything!!! And, oh, we women can be so dramatic. The scene where she ends up laying on the kitchen floor in despair looked like something that may have happened in our house a time or two. Totally believable.

I loved the way they moved back and forth between 1960s Paris and 2002-03 New York. The scenery in Paris was beautiful and the quaint little apartments. How the hell did they turn out such amazing meals in these miniscule kitchens with such tiny, tiny ovens? I am so going to make the Boeuf Bourguignon (beef stew in red wine with bacon, onions and mushrooms) and I'd like to try the Pate de Canard en Croute (boned stuffed duck baked in a pastry crust). I don't think I've ever even had duck -- I wonder if you can substitute chicken for the duck ... is this culinary blasphemy?

When we got home from the movie theater, I grabbed my copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" off the shelf. I bought it on October 2, 1995. I know this because I try to always stamp my keeper books with a book plate stamp for my name and I record the date. I guess I hope that my daughters and grandchildren and so on and so forth will someday look inside the cover of an old cookbook and think Nana bought this so long ago ... it's an antique!

All I can say is I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and can't wait to have it on DVD so I can watch it over and over. It really made me want to cook something! Bon Appetit!!!