Category Archives: Film

The Lives of Others (the film)

Film, Rave,

When I wrote the post entitled The Lives of Others, I was thinking about the film of the same name, but had not yet seen it. But now I have.

Beverly, the president of the film club to which I belong, recommended it to me shortly after it came out. I put it on my Netflix list, but recently moved it up to the top of my queue. I wish I had done so sooner, because it was a wonderful film.

If you have not seen it, it takes place in East Germany a few years before the fall of the Berlin Wall and focuses on a couple under surveillance and the man watching them.  Although the foreshadowing was obvious and I figured out the end before it happened, it was still a wonderful and suspenseful film about a time in the world’s recent past about which I knew very little.

There was nothing about the film I didn’t like, although I wonder how accurate the subtitles were.  There were a couple of scenes that I thought were more meaningful, but the words didn’t convey that.

My Daughter, the Critic

Family, Film, Reading, ,

Clare and I went out to dinner last night mostly because I was to lazy to cook for just the two of us (the guys went skiing), but also because we’d not been out of the house for something fun in a few days. I’m not sure if Clare considers dinner with mom fun, but she seemed to have a good time.

P4130055.JPGClare talked mostly about reading – her passion. Once again she thanked me for fostering a love of reading in her, which always tickles me, and she talked about what she loved didn’t like about books.

She loves it when the author manages to describe how people look without seeming to describe anything. She hates it when an author uses worn out metaphors and similies to make points in books.

She thinks Stepanie Meyer’s vampire trilogy is poorly written (even worse than the Harry Potter books, she said) but wants to read the second and third books anyway.  I liked what I read of Twilight, but I always was a sucker for vampire stories and gothic type novels.

She has the same kinds of opinions about films, but perhaps not so hypercritical.

I’m quite proud of how she’s turned out so far. Her love of reading will take her places – on a couple of levels. She’s not too bad in math either – last night she even figured out the tip for me.

Mother’s Day

Events, Family, Film, Food

Dean and the kids said they’d do whatever I wanted to do for Mother’s day, so I suggested we go to Lilit for brunch, see some artwork at the Fine Arts Festival in Bethesda and then see a movie. All three of the ideas came via email announcements.

I’m on Lilit’s mailing list. They send out announcements for their wine and beer tastings and occassional special events as well.

I heard about the movie, Waitress, through the Fox Searchlight email list I’m on and they announced a special showing of the film at a local theater and promised free goodie bags as well. Who can resist free goodie bags? Not me.

Finally, the art festival is a yearly event in Bethesda. I think we went one year, long ago when it was held further up Woodmont.

Dean exclaimed more than once that we never do these kinds of things and he was loving it.

We got into Bethesda around 10 am and walked to the area where the art festival was taking place. There were over a hundred booths of very pretty art, at prices we couldn’t really afford – and nothing really caught our fancy, although I was interested in a floor covering for our dining room. I spent a bit of time chatting with the wife of the artist who makes floor cloths. As much as I’ve wanted one, $1200 seems like an awful lot of money to spend. Maybe we will end up getting a rug after all.

Brunch was delicious – I had a spinach and red-pepper omelet with feta cheese and toast. They also poured me a complimentary mimosa and handed me a long-stemmed red rose. I love that place!

After brunch we had a couple hours to spare so stopped at Second Story Books. I’ve written about that part of our day on Clutch Cargo Lips.

The movie was good fun. I don’t necessarily want to think too deeply about it or analyze it because I know it would fall down under scrutiny, but as a form of entertainment, it was a perfect accompianment to the day thus far. As we left the theater we were each given a white paper bag full of coupons, lipstick, hair balm, liquid soap, and a magazine. We also each received a frozen Sarah Lee pie to go with the pie theme of the film.

When we got home the kids set to work cooking the menu I’d planned for the day. It was easy to plan because I’d seen it on Rachel Ray’s show. The only downfall was when the kids mistakenly mashed all of the black beans instead of just the small amount I left out for them to mash. I ran to the store and saved the day by buying more beans (after a few choice swear words).

Dinner was delicious, albeit a little spicy hot. No one really had room for the pie.

After dinner the kids gave me their gifts – one by one Andrew brought the presents out under his shirt. They gave me:

  • a bag of Cheeto’s (the crispy kind I like)
  • a container of cookies – the round, tubular kind with chocolate in the middle
  • a pen set (fountain and ink pen)
  • a bird feeder – platform for the cardinals

It was a lovely day and a testament to what a wonderful family I have.