Year: 2014

“Palo Alto”–Typically “Shallow Alto”?

Written by diana on June 4, 2014. Posted in movie reviews. 1 Comment on “Palo Alto”–Typically “Shallow Alto”?

I really, really wanted to like this movie, filmed on the street where we lived for almost twenty years. I gave it every hall pass I could, especially since I think James Franco is a gifted actor, writer and artist. Still, this is not a movie worth seeing. The narrative focuses on shy, bored April (Emma Roberts), who comes from a...

“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...

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...

“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...

“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...

Netflix Instant Queue–My List

Written by diana on April 28, 2014. Posted in movie reviews, Television reviews, Unhealed Wound. 1 Comment on Netflix Instant Queue–My List

My last blog on the pleasure of curling up to watch past episodes of favorite TV programs or programs and movies you missed while they were being released for the first time was on February 6, 2012 (“Netflix Instant Queue”–BBC’s Your Best Bet). Netflix is now a juggernaut. For me the pleasures of Netflix downloading has...