Movies & Books Into Movies

[MaryPage]

So many movies – how do  you choose what to watch? Reviews?  Recommendations?  Actors?  Availability? Do you choose a movie the same way you choose a book? And where do you like to watch most of your movies? Do you stream movies from Netflix and other places? Where’s the strangest place you’ve ever watched a film?

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Join us in an ongoing discussion of your favorite movies right now.
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Your Discussion Leader: pedln

I went to see The Shop Around The Corner with a little friend when I was ten.  Her mother took us.

[MaryPage]

The movie reviews I read very carefully and thoroughly make it easy for me to decide whether or not to see a film.  I knew from the very first review that The Black Swan would only upset me.  I adore ballet, and am thrilled to have wound up with a niece who is a professional lead ballerina with the Stuttgart Ballet;  but I am in possession of extra tender sensibilities and knew I could not stomach The Black Swan.  Natalie Portman is a great actress and I applaud her for the work she put into it.  I have no doubt she deserves every award in the book;  but the movie would make me sick.  At 81, I just don't need that.  Long and short of it, though, I do not understand why everyone does not carefully check out the story line before going to see any movie!

[Babi]

 Me, too, ROSEMARY. Some of those idyllic romances have me so
envious. I have to sigh, count my blessings, and call on my reserves
of sensible doubt.

 Congratulations on your prima ballerina, MARYPAGE. How lovely it
must be to see her dance. You are right about checking out movies
more carefully, of course. Too often if several people tell me a
movie was 'very good', I'm likely to order it without checking to
see exactly what it's about.

[ALF43]

MaryPage- Weekly a few of us go to the movies and I was dying to see Black Swan.  My dear friend Isabelle who is a very busy, feisty, active 82 year old wanted to go with me.  I told her that the movie entailed a few scenes that she might shy away from.  After the movie, I mentioned to her that she had closed her eyes during a couple of the scenes and she said the same thing that you did:  "I just don't need that."   
I reminded her that she had been forewarned.

Yesterday I actually was thinking about Natalie Portman's depiction of this ballerina when I read this- I am paraphrasing here because my brain is mush:" It is not the art of the dance it is the passion of the dancer." 
I really liked that as you could see Portman's passion (in more ways than one, I might add.)

[MaryPage]

Having 8 children, I am firm in my conviction that we are each of us born with our basic personalities and are each different from the other, even in the same family.

I have one daughter who still, at age 56, gets nightmares if she has viewed a television program or seen a movie or read a book that has violence in it.  She has tried mightily to overcome this, but violence done to people quite simply does her in.  Most of us steel ourselves throughout our lives to not allow things to "get to us."  We tell ourselves that it is not real, or, if it is, that it is over, in the past, not our fault, happening far far away and there is nothing we can do.  This particular daughter seems to lack the gene to build a thick wall around her screaming-meemie reflex regarding pain or suffering.

Sometimes I think it might be better for mankind if we were all like this daughter!

I have never been to Stuttgart to see Elizabeth dance, but she has given me DVDs of her various performances.  I did see her dance when she was at school with the Bolshoi in Washington, D.C.  Elizabeth left home for good at age 12 to become a ballet dancer.  Imagine!  She loves it;  that is the thing.  Elizabeth is 27 now.

[Tomereader1]

One of my friends went with her 15 year old daughter to see Black Swan (it has a15 certificate here).  She was mortified by the lesbian sex scenes, etc and her daughter nearly died of emabrrassment.  She said, "what does a film have to have to get an 18 certificate?  cannibalism?"

I have this afternoon been to see "The King's Speech", it was lovely.  Colin Forth - what an actor!  What a man 

I used to love The Waltons when it was first on TV, would love to see the early ones again.

I posted here when I saw the "Black Swan" movie that it "wasn't a ballet movie to take your granddaughter to" (or daughter in your case) And that it had "sex, language, drugs and violence concerns. The film is rated "R" here in the states, and

I would have thought that was suitable warning! 

[rosemarykaye]

Tomereader - it certainly was, but it wasn't I who went to see it - it was one of my friends!  I hadn't seen this friend for some time till this week.  Now I've told several people to think twice - though i told my own elder daughter about my friend's experience, and she said, "no wonder Rose was embarrassed, it was because she was sitting next to her Mum" - ie she wouldn't have been otherwise!

By the way, have just realised there were quite a few typos in my last post - I do really know that it's Colin Firth - must have been overcome by the pleasure of seeing him 

R

[Tomereader1]

Rosemary, I have that same reaction to Colin Firth!!

I just meant my post for whoever might contemplate seeing the movie, not specifically for you, and I'm glad you passed the word.  It's a shame that folks don't do more research before going to a movie. Now, word of warning for you to pass on...The new Portman movie is so far out of her usual bailiwick (romantic? comedy with that cipher, Ashton Kutcher) "No Strings Attached" that I don't intend to see it.  A friend, who reviews movies locally, said it was totally (as the title implies) about sex with no committment, and discusses various sexual permutations, etc.  Sounds like no redeeming social value to me!!  Why Portman would give such a stunning, Oscar-worthy performance in Swan, and turn around and do a movie like this one, is beyond my ken.  Oh, well. There is not a lot of awesomeness in movies nowadays anyway, The King's Speech being the exception to that rule. 

[rosemarykaye]

Tomereader - thanks for the warning, it sounds dire.  I have just realised that I have for some reason been reading your screen name as Tombreader - I kept imagining you as some sort of graveyard haunting goth, and now I see it's just about big books!

Honestly, I should not be let out....

R

[roshanarose]

Rosemary It's Ok for you to be let out occasionally, just make sure it is nowhere near graveyards.

I haven't been to see a movie for weeks.  An oversight which is due to what has been befalling my family, my city and my state.

Just off topic, but I can't resist it.  Rosemary have you ever had "haggis in batter"?  Evidently there is a shop in Edinburgh that serves this cultural treasure, and other such calorie laden treats.  Bourdain recommends it.  The shop is called "The Mermaid".  Bourdain and Ian Rankin also visited a restaurant of a "famous" chef, who both of the men respectfully called "Chef".  The "Chef's" last name was Kitchin.  No seriously!!  His establishment is also called "The Kitchin" and is somewhere near the water in Edinburgh.  Or was it just raining?  Anyway, Rosemary, I expect reviews of both of these salubrious, although somewhat different, eateries from you after you "settle".  I must say that Edinburgh looks like the type of place I woul like to visit.  Dark, dour, but fascinating, like the Scots themselves

As for Colin Firth - I am now going to have a cold shower.  No seriously, I am!!!  It is so humid here.

[ALF43]

Three weeks and three movies- The Kings Speech (my personal favorite), The Kids are Alright, (well done) and The Black Swan.  I suppose that those three will be the last GOOD movies I witness for a while. 

[rosemarykaye]

Roshanarose - you have just given me my first laugh of the day (it's only 8am here) 

No I have not had haggis in batter, but I have no doubt that it does exist.  I'm afraid the Scots diet means that just about anything in batter exists.  In Stonehaven (a coastal town near here) there is a chippy famous for its deep-fried Mars Bars, and I think last year they also did a deep-fried Easter egg 

There are some very good cafes and restaurants on the waterside at Leith and Portobello in Edinburgh.  Leith is the old dock area, very run down, then huge building projects started in the boom times, most of these are half-finished, abandoned, blocks of flats - v depressing.  There is, however, a small waterfront area that is really nice - I love the cafes down there.  Portobello is Edinburgh's seaside.  I don't know it at all well, but I have read that it has some good eateries.  I will look up the Mermaid, and I think I have heard of that chef called Kitchin - will look that up as well.

Please do visit Edinburgh - I would love to see you.  It's not all dark and dour - though the Old Town very much is - but it is very Presbyterian in parts.  The New Town is very light and airy but still has that "dour" atmosphere that you mention.  I think we have at last bought our flat; it is in Stockbridge, just down the (unfortunately steep) hill from the New Town, and near to the park, the Botanic Gardens, and plenty of little shops.  I am trying to remember that these are all positives to stop me panicking about all the rest of it!!

Rosemary

[Babi]

I am trying to remember that these are all positives to stop me panicking about all the rest of it!!

ROSEMARY, I think that is fairly typical of moving.  There are always
compromises to be made, aren't there?  I've found (many moves in
my lifetime) that the problem areas quickly become normal routine.

[Tomereader1]

Speaking of "fried things"...when we have our State Fair of Texas, I think everyone with concessions tries to outdo the other for items that can be fried.  We have had fried candy bars, fried Coca-Cola, and so on.  There is even a restaurant locally that serves fried pickles.  (not just during the Fair)

[maryz]

Fried pickles are pretty good - just VERY salty (at least the ones I've had).

[Frybabe]

I must say that Edinburgh looks like the type of place I woul like to visit.

Roshanarose, Although it was many, many years ago (before the advent of fried Mars Bars, Rosemarykaye) I still remember the feeling I had when visiting Edinburgh. Not a I've been here before feeling, so much as I had come home - like I belonged there.

[rosemarykaye]

Thanks Babi - I appreciate your support.  I know you are right - in a few months we will be in quite another routine.  At the moment I feel in a kind of limbo, wandering about thinking "I should be doing Something".  I remember when a friend down the road moved - she only moved about 4 doors along, but she found it very stressful.  I saw her a few days before moving day, and she said "I just keep buying bottles of g...." - I was waiting for the word "gin" - it turned out to be Jif (a cleaning product) 

Rosemary

[CallieOK]

Rosemanry,  after I sold the family home and moved to this duplex, I felt as if I were "staying here" - not as if I lived here.  I said sternly to myself,  "Self!  You will wait for a year before you make another change."
Of course, long before the year was over, I felt very much at home and knew it was the best decision I could have ever made.

LOL at your misinterpreting what your friend was saying.  In the USA, Jif is a brand of peanut butter

We are still having low temperatures but no more snow.   I managed to get out and fill the bird feeders before the birds lined up on the window sill in protest.  I looked as if I was off to conquer Mount Everest - with a snow shovel!!  

[rosemarykaye]

Thanks Callie, I am sure you are right - and well done on feeding your birds.  I am often seen struggling out there with my packets of seed, suet, etc - I am usually wearing my dressing gown and wellington boots, as I feel so sorry for the poor things that I feel I should feed them as soon as I can.

Rosemary

PS What is a duplex?

[CallieOK]

A duplex is two dwellings under a common roof - separated by a common wall (in my case,  a soundproof very secure fire wall). In my area, the two dwellings (units) have been built separately and don't necessarily have the same floor plan.

Do you call these "attached houses"?

[roshanarose]

Rosemary - I am not going to talk about moving house except to say that giving birth is a doddle in comparison.

As I recall "The Kitchin" was in Leith.

My favourite battered treat, which I diligently avoid, is battered sushi.  You have no idea how good it is.

Happy Nesting Rosemary!

[CallieOK]

I've discovered that Fried Green Beans are a nice substitute for French Fries as a side dish in restaurants.  My rationale is that the healthy green veggie counteracts the "fried". 

[marcie]

Good thinking, Callie 

[rosemarykaye]

Callie - we call them "semi-detached" (I think that maybe reflects our obsession with owning detached houses (ie separate ones) - they are seen as significantly upmarket.)  We live at the moment in a terraced house - ie a long row of houses all joined by common walls (except at the end of course!).

Gryff Rhys Jones wrote a very funny autobiography called "Semi-Detached", most of which was about his upbringing in "rural" suburbia - although it was indeed a lot more rural in those days.

R

[Gumtree]

We used to call them 'semi-detached' but nowadays the newer versions are called a 'duplex'.  We still have lots of the old semi-detached ones in the inner suburbs and some terrace houses too although they weren't  as numerous as were the semis. When I was a child it was considered perhaps 'lower-class' to live in a semi or a terrace as much of the areas where they were built had fallen into a period of neglect and disrepair with the buildings rented out. Nowadays they are both often seen as being upmarket especially when the new owners have spent a fortune making them habitable again.

[Babi]

 Oh, come now! Fried coca-cola?  How does one fry a liquid??   

[rosemarykaye]

No idea, but Nigella Lawson has a recipe for coca cola cake that's quite good.

R

[pedln]

Can't wait to try -- Fried coca cola --  How?
And Fried Mars bars;  I'll pass on the sushi, though I don't doubt your assessment, Roshanarose  

But there's "fried" and then there's "fried,"  right?  Some fried is better than other fried?

Gently fried?  as opposed to "deeply fried?

And as long as it's a fruit or a vegetable, it's okay.  Even weight watchers is saying 0 points for fruits and vegetables.  I don't know about "fried" green beans, Callie, but I much prefer the "sauteed"  green beans to the "cook 'em with ham until they're dead" method which seems to be preferred in my neck of the woods.

Finally watched Russell Crowe in Master and Commander last night, after picking it out of Walmart's Discount Barrel eons ago.  Really enjoyed it, though I'd like to see it on a bigger screen. But I'm not so sure I want to get involved with all of Patrick O'Briens books.

Rosemary, Nigella Lawson has some good stuff, doesn't she. I'll have to track down her coca cola cake. It sounds so nice and moist and "plummy?"

[Tomereader1]

I don't know how they did it, and as I think about it, it may have been fried Dr. Pepper not coke, but same thing.  It was the talk of the State Fair that year, and they even did a piece on TV news about how it was accomplished.  Of course, I don't remember that part.

I love fried green beans.

[Gumtree]

I enjoyed theMaster and Commander film - apart from Russell Crowe, I also like Paul Bettany who played Maturin. He's superb in almost every part he plays - as is Crowe. I've only read a few of the Aubrey/Maturin series but one day I hope to find time to read the lot from beginning to end ...

I enjoy watching Nigella occasionally. They put her on sometimes before the 7pm news so I'm making dinner with an eye of her as well. I just love those super rich recipes she does but wouldn't dare to eat them as a regular thing.

[pedln]

Does anyone have the recipe for Nigella Lawson's Coca Cola Cake  -- lots of talk about how wonderful it is, but not the recipe.  I did find one that i copied, but it's all in grams and mililiters and I don't know how to translate.

Apparently this cake is also a Southern tradition, and I have found lots of places to go and eat it, but not the recipe itself.

[CallieOK]

from "Southern Living" magazine:

Cola Cake

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon soda

1 cup cola-flavored beverage (Coca-Cola)
1 cup butter or margarine
2 Tablespoons cocoa (powdered)

1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl; mix well and set aside.
Combine cola, butter and cocoa in a heavy saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Gradually stir into flour mixture.
Stir in buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and marshmallows.
Pour into a greased and floured 13x9x2 inch baking pan.
Bake at 350º for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden pick (toothpick?) inserted in center comes out clean.
Spread Cola Frosting over warm cake.
(Recipe for this in another post)

[CallieOK]

Cola Frosting

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons Coke
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 (16 oz) package powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine butter, Coke and cocoa in a heavy saucepan.; bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat; stir in sugar and vanilla.  Yield: enough for one sheet cake.

After spreading frosting on cake, sprinkle with 1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts

[CallieOK]

P.S.  I found several similar recipes in a Beta Sigma Phi cookbook.  The only difference in ingredients was to use half butter/oleo and half Crisco.

Who mentioned Dr. Pepper?    I found a recipe for Dr. Pepper cake that's different from the Coke Cake.   Rather than take up space here, E-mail me if you're interested and I'll send it to you.

[rosemarykaye]

Callie, I had a look at my Nigella Lawson book, and her recipe is broadly similar but there are no marshmallows and only one (large) egg.

She also suggests making Coca Cola cup cakes by putting the mixture into 12 muffin cases.  I think you would cook them for a slightly shorter time, though she doesn't say so.  You pour the icing on just after you take them out of the oven, then you can decorate them (if you wish) with those little Coca Cola bottle shaped gummy sweets.  yes I know it sounds yuk, but my children beg to differ 

The only other important thing to note is that it must not be Diet Coke!

R

[CallieOK]

Rosemary,  I heartily agree about it not being Diet Coke.  I don't think some of the other "Cola" drinks would work as well, either - but I could be wrong about that.

I have another similar recipe (no Coke) which calls for the mini-marshmallows to be added with the frosting.   Back in the day when I made this cake often, I would sprinkle on the marshmallows and put the cake back in the oven (turned off) while I mixed the frosting.  The m-mallows became gooey enough to swirl through the frosting as it was spread on the cake.  Yum!

LOL at your children's opinion of the gummy sweets!  I'm sure my grandchildren would agree.

[MaryPage]

I read every one of the, was it 23?, Patrick O'Brian books.  Wonderful stuff!

[pedln]

Thank you, Callie.  NOt sure when I'm going to make, but I do have all the ingredients on hand except for the buttermilk, and I think you can substitute milk and lemon juice.  One of the sites that TALKED about it said that.  Anyway, it just sounds delicious.

MaryPage -- WOW, impressive.  That speaks well for Patrick O'Brien.

[PatH]

I read every one of the, was it 23?, Patrick O'Brian books.  Wonderful stuff!

Me too, except for the unfinished fragment O'Brian left when he died.  Yes, wonderful stuff indeed.  The movie, named The Far Side of the World after the tenth book, doesn't take much from that book except the route of Aubrey's ship, but is a mish-mash of a number of the books.  Fair enough.  They worked hard at accuracy.  Aubrey's ship is the Rose, a 1970 reproduction of an 18th century frigate.  The interior of Acheron, the enemy ship, is computer generated from my favorite ship in the world, the USS Constitution  (Old Ironsides)  and the business of Acheron's hull reflects the fact that Constitution's hull was constructed of live oak, a particularly tough wood.   In spite of all their accuracy, including twisting the ropes of the ships the way it was done then rather than current practice, they couldn't trouble to check that Aubrey's wife Sophie was a blonde, and have him gazing at a miniature of a brunette.

Constitution appears in person in book 6, The Fortune of War, when she captures Java, with Aubrey on board (a historical battle).  Constitution was built in 1797, and is still a commissioned ship in the US navy, supposedly still capable of sailing, though mostly moored in Boston harbor.  If you like that sort of thing, you can tour her in Boston.

Never mind my hobby horse, even if you never heard of Aubrey or O'Brian, Master and Commander is a very good movie.

[Babi]

Having learned about roasted vegetables, I gave it a try and I
must say roasted wins over boiled any day.  So simple: spray
lightly with one of the cooking oils, sprinkle with your favorite
herbs, and stick them into the oven until tender. Great for squash,
carrots...that kind of veg.
  Speaking of favorite Southern cakes,  are you familiar with the yummy
chocolate lovers dream, the Mississippi Mud Cake?