February Favorites!

I saw some great movies, binge watched some good TV and read some fun books. Learn more below!

Movies

The Way - Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez

This movie made me want to sell everything and walk the Pyrenes Mountains.

An unsentimental view of how man copes when his adult son decides to pursue his dreams only to lose his life.

Starring real-life father and son duo, Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez, the movie examines ambitions, dreams, grief and love.

If you love travelogues, don't mind a dose of spirituality and buddy movies, this is the movie for you. And, even though this does take place on a Catholic pilgrimage, it has a mild spiritual overtones.

Not Another Happy Ending - Karen Gillian, Henry Cusick

This British rom-com has Dr. Who darling Karen Gillian and French actor and Scandal star, Henry Ian Cusick.

If you love movies about writers, this one's for you. Jane has been trying to get her novel published. After a stream of rejections, finally the foul-mouthed editor, Willie takes her novel on. Together, they work to make it the "novel of the year". And that's when it all starts to go down hill.

Peruvian Henry Ian Cusick does a brilliant job of playing a bossy French man. And Kareen Gillian is delightful as the lovely first-time novelist, quirky menswear aside. Definitely one to watch.

Horns - Daniel Radcliffe and Juno Temple - instant view

A quirky morality tale starring Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe examines honesty, revenge and free will.

Ig falls in love Merrin when they are just children. Their love seems destined for marriage until she is found dead.

Traumatized and distraught, he is victimized by the town and his family who believes he is her murderer. After a night of debauchery, he wakes up to find he has grown horns.

Surreal and sad, this movie examines the nature of good and evil.

TV Shows

Justified - Timothy Olyphant - instant view

This 6-season series covers a volatile, recalcitrant US Deputy Marshall's return to his hom-state of Kentucky.

Fielding feuding hillbilly families entrenched in drug wars that would put the mob to shame, Raylan Givens picks up where he left off, running into old enemies, an ex-wife and an estranged father.

Bullets fly, bombs explode and alliances flip.

All in a single episode. Based on Elmore Leonard's short story, Fire in the Hole.

Bosch - Titus Welliver - instant view

Only available on Amazon Prime, Bosch is a video series based upon Michael Connelly's detective Harry Bosch.

Much like Justified's Raylan Givens, Harry Bosch runs along the edge of the law in LA. Described as new noir, the cinematography is shadowed and gritty.

Harry Bosch is maligned, shredded and accused from all sides.

Nevertheless, he solves crimes, closes down delinquents and generally cleans up the mayhem.

Books

Pilgrim Road - Albert Holtz, OSB - Kindle

Benedictine monk takes the reader through a Lenten journey through 40 days worth of pilgrim sites.

Illustrated by the author with small sketches of the pilgrim sites drawn during his journeys, his words will transport you to these saintly sites.

Traveling from Spain to Bogota, then France then England, this book is delightful, thought-provoking and will guide you towards a deeper Lenten experience.

To Catch a Bad Guy - Marie Astor - Kindle

Marie Astor's white-collar crime mystery follows former AG Janet Maple and financial investigator Dennis Walker as they stumble upon one another during their tenure at a financial investment firm.

Dennis is working under cover to investigate the firm's investments when Janet is hired by her friend to join as counsel after getting laid off from the AG's office. 

Sparks start to fly as both Janet and Dennis begin to realize their instincts are right.

A fun romp, there is no gratuitous sex and a smart read.



Kindle eBooks
Amazon Movies and TV

Stream TV via HuluPlus

Eat, Pray, Love - Julia Roberts (2010)

What is it with male critics?

They have a built-in bias against chick flicks. It really is annoying. I wish they would attempt to be a little bit more open-minded.

Because, I have to confess, I was pleasantly surprised.

Note that you will be paying to watch a woman go on a spiritual quest in what may be perceived to be in a most self-indulgent manner.

And because I have thought that very thing, I never read the book because I have told everyone "I already lived that book; I don't need to read it."

I was gratefully surprised as to how moving the movie was. Of course men don't like it; it wreaks emotional havoc on them. It stirs up empathetic feelings of sadness, loss, grief.

Women, we love to watch these movies. They help us heal.

Maybe if more men watched these kinds of movies they wouldn't be so constipated.

Although, I will say, none of the actors appeared to be crying when there were acting like they were crying. One time, it looked like someone put two eye drops of water, each one directly below each of Julia's pupils, in an attempt to make it look like she had shed real tears. Crocodile tears, I say!

And some of the lines were kind of hokey.

But I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would.