Sometimes, we struggle to find the answers in ourselves so we turn to other sources of wisdom, like the words of another writer, philosopher or artist of a different medium. If we’re having a tough time, we might turn to an inspiring, positive force for words to keep chugging along. If we are trying to understand something that seems incomprehensible, they might offer a bit of clarity. I hope these words make you stop and think a moment and carve out more meaning in your day, too. As always, thanks for reading. ~ Chris K. “Listen to the wind — it talks. Listen to the silence — it speaks. Listen to your heart — it knows.” Native American proverb #wisewords (“Woman Walking in the Woods” by Odon Czintos) ...
read moreEvery week, I show up here anticipating that this will be the week I will surprise anyone reading my movie blogs on Monday and I will bring multiple flicks to blog about in reviews once more. Sigh. It’s been a really long time since I’ve had a week like that, one with that kind of downtime available. So did I have a week like that this past week? Hell, no! Once again, a single movie will have to do, but at least this time I got myself out of the house and into the movie theaters like a good consumer. Read on to find out what recently released film that has some Oscar buzz around one of its performers I went to see in person. And as always, thanks for reading. ~ Chris K. FILMS VIEWED WEEK OF 12/09/2019 – 12/15/2019 *click on photos to enlarge 109. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Biography, Drama (2019) Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Chris Cooper, Susan Kelechi Watson, Maryann Plunkett If you read me regularly, you know that I attribute whatever you like or dislike about me to to the long-lasting impact while growing up (some would say affliction) from three major television entities in my life: Sesame Street, Saturday Night Live, and Mister Rogers Neighborhood. So when I heard that Tom Hanks was playing THE Fred Rogers, I had already heard about this great new documentary that surely would be up for Best Documentary Feature in 2018 (and then shockingly wasn’t). I also thought it was curious that once again Tom Hanks was playing a real life person. That seems like it would be an awful lot of pressure. If you’ve been watching the pre-release promotion of this film, like me, you’ve probably seen many talk shows that have featured some of the actors in the movie and other segments that would spotlight regular people like you and me who along the way had interacted with Fred Rogers or Fred Rogers and his wife Joanne and found out what remarkable and caring people they were. So some of these stories of his kindness, generosity and empathy have been shared across various talk shows lately. I didn’t know when I went to see this film that I was going to be watching one of those stories on a much more detailed level and not a story about Mister Rogers. I guess I needed to do my homework more, and that’s my own fault, but after seeing the wonderful documentary WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? (2018), I was only more excited about seeing a fictional depiction of a man who I already knew a little bit about and could identify with the kind of impact he had on children personally, as one of those kids growing up in the early to mid 70s. While the story of journalist Lloyd Vogel (serving as real-life journalist Tom Junod) is a compelling one and the actors who portray him and his wife (Rhys and Kelechi Watson) as well as Hanks in the pivotal role, I still didn’t love the film. In fact, I was actually disappointed by the film. Now here is where I will let the filmmakers off the hook a little because my disappointment often results from me setting expectations...
read moreYou can follow me online at Instagram for my #dailypics, on Facebook for quips, observations and pop culture commentary and on Twitter for a little bit of everything including micropoetry and Thoughts from the Twitterverse like this below. As always, thanks for reading! — Chris K. Wherever you look outside, let yourself see magic in even the most minute of details. #twitterverse #simplepleasures (art by Marcia Baldwin) ...
read moreSometimes, we struggle to find the answers in ourselves so we turn to other sources of wisdom, like the words of another writer, philosopher or artist of a different medium. If we’re having a tough time, we might turn to an inspiring, positive force for words to keep chugging along. If we are trying to understand something that seems incomprehensible, they might offer a bit of clarity. I hope these words make you stop and think a moment and carve out more meaning in your day, too. As always, thanks for reading. ~ Chris K. “A wonderful gift may not be wrapped as you expect.” —– writer Jonathan Lockwood Huie #wisewords (Art: “Brave” by Jiyoung Kim) ...
read moreYou can follow me online at Instagram for my #dailypics, on Facebook for quips, observations and pop culture commentary and on Twitter for a little bit of everything including micropoetry and Thoughts from the Twitterverse like this below. As always, thanks for reading! — Chris K. Here’s something fun to ponder: what if where my mind goes, your mind travels, too, and we could meet up and hang out for a while? Play a little gin rummy, share a root beer, talk some baseball. Wouldn’t it be nice? #twitterverse #simplepleasures #mykindoftweeple (art source, unknown)...
read moreYesterday, I was 15 again. Well, in my mind I was. When we place ourselves somewhere that brings back a flood of fun memories, it is easy totransport ourselves to another day, one when I had much more reliable knee joints. My husband and I went to the Replay Museum in Tarpon Springs yesterday. It is a retro arcade filled with one pinball machine after another and rows and rows of beloved video games, everything from Dragon’s Lair and X-Men to Pac-woman, Galaga and Robotron. I even spotted Rolling Thunder. After I got my pinball juices flowing for about 15 or 20 minutes, I reconnected with Frogger, reminisced with Qbert, worked it out with Sonya, Subzero and crew for a little Mortal Kombat and tried once again unsuccessfully to beat the winding roads of Out Run. The museum didn’t have Tetris though, I was a little surprised by that and disappointed but otherwise, I found the place amazing and the experience truly cathartic. It was so much fun to be behind the pinball machine again. Since I was a little kid visiting Daytona Beach’s famous boardwalk with my folks, I have loved spending time in the arcade to play my two favorite games of all — pinball and Skee-Ball. While I did not get to partake in Skee-Ball, I must have played at least a dozen different pinball games during the two times we visited the museum during the afternoon, some old favorites and others that I had never seen before including pinballs revolving around some of my favorite films and TV shows including AVATAR, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, LORD OF THE RINGS, STAR TREK and The Walking Dead. I didn’t grow up with game systems in my house beyond a very cheap knock-off of a system that featured Pong-like games with either one white rectangle for handball or two narrow rectangles across the screen for tennis. We’re talking state-of-the-art graphics, people. When I was in my late teens I dated and then married someone who was quite the game player (aah, yes the marriage that didn’t take, a.k.a. my practice husband). We had the latest and greatest Sega Genesis and Nintendo systems, and I had my own Ninetendo Game Boy. So I am familiar with some games from that era of the late 80s and early 90s that were on home systems but most of my time playing any games at all were at the arcade. In my early 20s after I just moved to Tampa, he and I would rush over to Malibu arcade when it was storming outside because they had their ‘rainy day’ promotion — double the tokens for every dollar spent. Once we arrived there, I spent most of my time on the pinballs or skee-ball unless there was a Tetris or Q-bert somewhere on the premises. And when I was working at my first ‘real’ job out of college, there was a putt putt golf next door that had a small arcade. They had a Tetris machine, and I’m fairly certain I helped wear out that thing. It wasn’t unusual for me to spend most of my lunch break over there. So arcades have a special place in my heart. The visit to the Replay Museum yesterday got me to reflect about other...
read moreYou can follow me online at Instagram for my #dailypics, on Facebook for quips, observations and pop culture commentary and on Twitter for a little bit of everything including micropoetry and Thoughts from the Twitterverse like this below. As always, thanks for reading! — Chris K. Setting off for new places to explore, Staying in one spot is such a bore. Whenever you need something more, Pick up your feet and see what’s in store. #twitterverse (art source, unknown) ...
read moreSometimes, we struggle to find the answers in ourselves so we turn to other sources of wisdom, like the words of another writer, philosopher or artist of a different medium. If we’re having a tough time, we might turn to an inspiring, positive force for words to keep chugging along. If we are trying to understand something that seems incomprehensible, they might offer a bit of clarity. I hope these words make you stop and think a moment and carve out more meaning in your day, too. As always, thanks for reading. ~ Chris K. “My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature.” —– Claude Monet #wisewords (art source, unknown) ...
read moreTaking a few days off work this week, so the plan is to catch up on the DVR and see some films I’ve been meaning to see. This one has been on the list for a while now, and I’m glad I finally got a chance to check out a performance and film that all of the critics have been raving about. I’s my turn to weigh in on this now Golden Globe-nominated performance. So, as always, thanks for reading. ~ Chris K. FILMS VIEWED WEEK OF 12/02/2019 – 12/08/2019 *click on photos to enlarge 108. Dolemite Is My Name Biography, Comedy, Drama (2019) Eddie Murphy, Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Epps, Wesley Snipes, Craig Robinson, Titus Burgess, Da’Vine Joy Randolph I knew when this film started that I’d be assessing a performance that everybody has been talking about – Eddie Murphy. Murphy stars as real life comedian and singer Rudy Ray Moore who created a character Dolemite and blazed his own independent film trail, something the film covers as Murphy in the lead role. We watch Moore set out to make movies with absolutely no experience or filmmaking knowledge whatsoever. So I knew there would be a lot of Murphy watching and evaluating ‘is he as good as everybody says he is in this film?’ Oh, and the short answer is ‘yes, very much so.’ What I did not expect was an ensemble film. This film has an amazing cast with a new surprise cameo popping up at every turn, and I won’t ruin them for you, but its core players are a group of talented comedians and writers who join Murphy as the crew that helps Moore carry out his mission in creating a new comedy presence in cinema. Key, Robinson, Epps and Burgess are terrific, and for me, Randolph kept stealing scene after scene. But one of the biggest highlights for me was Snipes in a comedic turn that took me by surprise. Without question though, this is Murphy’s vehicle. We are reminded why we’ve missed seeing him — on film, on TV, anywhere we can get him. He has always demonstrated that he’s more than a funny standup. He gives a layered performance, and on many occasion, it is not so much the words coming out of his mouth but a particular look he offers the camera. With every scene of bravado, there’s a sense of fear and vulnerability Murphy is able to capture and embed in his depiction. I was entertained by the film, but I was also very impressed by the performances. The film transports the filmgoer back to a very different time in the industry and in our culture, and visually, the team behind DOLEMITE does a great job in capturing that as well. I say this one is worth seeing and I wouldn’t be surprised if it earns more much-deserved praise at award shows to come. Score: 88 ...
read moreYou can follow me online at Instagram for my #dailypics, on Facebook for quips, observations and pop culture commentary and on Twitter for a little bit of everything including micropoetry and Thoughts from the Twitterverse like this below. As always, thanks for reading! — Chris K. This story is why I get the @nytimes. For beautiful storytelling like this. If you read one thing today, please read this story for a love story unlike any other. Still brushing away tears. Sigh. Click here for the New York Times story. #twitterverse (art from the New York Times story by Danna Singer) ...
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