Month: May 2014

“Belle”–Ringing for Justice

Written by diana on May 26, 2014. Posted in movie reviews. 5 Comments on “Belle”–Ringing for Justice

Of the many movies involving slave trade, films like “Belle”, “12 Years a Slave” and “Amistad” attempt to view the atrocities of slavery from the perspective of a slave or, in the case of Belle, an illegitimate daughter of a British nobleman, Admiral Sir John Lindsay (in a brief role by Matthew Goode). Inspired by a 1779 painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle and her cousin Elizabeth Murray, the story looks into who Belle may have been, since few facts about her actually exist today. In the film, Dido (“Belle”, played by the stunning...

SideTour–When You Don’t Want to Feel Like a Tourist

Written by diana on May 19, 2014. Posted in Lifestyle, Local travel, Travel (Domestic). 2 Comments on SideTour–When You Don’t Want to Feel Like a Tourist

On a recent vacation in New York City, we thought we would try out SideTour (www.sidetour.com), an online marketplace for unusual, offbeat experiences and activities. Originally designed not for tourists but for locals who want to discover secret treasures in their own neighborhood, the company has now begun to expand to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle. Acquired by Groupon in mid-2013, SideTour continues to gain momentum and expand its repertoire while continuing to keep group size between 5-12 participants on average and costs within the $25-85 price...

“Nebraska” –A Husky Tale in the Cornhusker State

Written by diana on May 14, 2014. Posted in movie reviews. 4 Comments on “Nebraska” –A Husky Tale in the Cornhusker State

In Alexander Payne’s Academy Award-nominated black-and-white drama, we see the story of a parent with unfulfilled dreams who has damaged adult children who care deeply but are also deeply wounded. A companion piece to “August: Osage County” (see my review January 29, 2014). The film opens with Woody Grant (Bruce Dern in the performance of his career!) wandering the streets of Billings, Montana. Woody’s son, David (Will Forte of Saturday Night Live fame) is called by the police to pick up his septuagenarian father who wants to walk to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect...

“Philomena”–The Story of a Mother’s Loss

Written by diana on May 4, 2014. Posted in movie reviews, Unhealed Wound. 1 Comment on “Philomena”–The Story of a Mother’s Loss

It has been almost eleven years after the groundbreaking and award-winning film “The Magdalene Sisters” (2002), a fictionalized drama based on three young Irish women who survive the dehumanizing abuse as inmates of a Magdalene Sisters Asylum, one of many that existed in Ireland and other parts of the Catholic world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Now, we have the remarkable and moving story of Philomena Lee, in the movie named after her, in which she searches for over fifty years for the little boy taken from her as a teenager. “Philomena”, nominated for...

Month: May 2014

“Belle”–Ringing for Justice

SideTour–When You Don’t Want to Feel Like a Tourist

“Nebraska” –A Husky Tale in the Cornhusker State

“Philomena”–The Story of a Mother’s Loss

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