Nattering: A Few of My Favorite Things, and Not Favorite
I am a committed film fan. My parents loved movies and took me and later my younger sister once or twice a week even as toddlers. I was a war baby. I wanted to be Ginger Rogers. I also thought I'd seen London getting bombed being too young to know the difference; news reels you know. It had it's effect though. When we started hiding under our desks in grade school out of fear of being bombed in the 50's all those news films of buildings falling down and burning returned and scared the poo out of me. It didn't help when I asked my Dad about it and he said "Cover your head? Kiss your butt goodbye more like." But then he'd been in Japan post-war and saw Nagasaki.
I'm serious fan of South Korean films and like Chinese and Japanese films. I have most of Akira Kurosawa's films with Toshiro Mifune on my DVD shelf. Not all are samurai films. We lived in Honolulu when I was a young kid and my Dad took us to mostly Japanese films, he also spoke Japanese so he'd fill in where the subtitles left us wondering. Kids on the mainland were watching cowboys; my sister and I were soaking up samurai tales.
And other films. Some of the most frightening ghost/supernatural stories I ever watched were Japanese. No surprise they came up with the first "Ring" in 1998.
Much later I saw and was struck by "Raise the Red Lantern" and began watching Chinese films. Living back in Seattle afforded us access Asian films in theaters and I was fortunate enough to live near Scarecrow Video, a most excellent video store. The last few years I've become attached to South Korean films and dramas. Since I retired and moved to SE Washington to be near my kith and kin I'm mostly dependent N-flix, some Amazon and buying more DVD's. My favorite streamer of Asian films was dropped by Warner. Boo!
Our local theater usually plays films for what I think of as the 15-25 crowd of young men. Although this week they are showing "Harriet" and the "Good Liar." I have seen all of the Avenger films and most of the X-man films as well. In spite of what Martin Scorsese thinks, they were good and a couple were exceptional. I loved "Logan," the swan song of Wolverine. So hooray for the boy's films. Once when my sons were in middle and high school, we had a particular bad week, complete with the flu, couldn't go anywhere so I loaded up on comfort food and rented three "Mad Max" films and we had a Mad Max Marathon. That was before Mel Gibson turned out to be such a stinker. I digress.
Not favorite and favorite: I got into a historical drama called "My Country" on N-flix. I've really enjoyed it plus it's about some Korean history with which I'm familiar. I like to look up maps and history of what I watch. The cast is excellent and it has one of the best/worst villains. It has 20 episodes. N-flix advertised 16. Then it came to a halt at 12 just as the story got really interesting. Turns out you can contact N-flix so I did, and they told me they did not get the licensing rights past 12. I follow a recap blog from S. Korea and they've already seen it through episode 16 at least. I can see the plot and some photos if it doesn't show up where I can watch it. Still, I'm po'd, this is my not-favorite thing right now. However I can hardly wait for the third season of "The Crown" to start.
Not very favorite. What's with Christmas music playing the stores since Halloween? No, not good. I have finished about half of my Christmas shopping and gift making. I have a pile of grandkids (add 1 for the spouse of the married one), 2 foster grandkids, and my niece and nephew etc. etc. and I freak out on November first every year. Actually it's not the presents, it's the wrapping that I don't like, which is my own fault, I make a production of it. I try for arty wraps. Last year I wrapped them in paper bag like paper, rough twine and tied little tiny hemlock cones I gathered in the park with the twine. I wish I had taken a picture. Why, I ask myself? The littlest ones just shred everything. Pogo is right, I have seen the enemy and it is me. Ha,ha.
Another favorite. My son and his wife Heather, with the scads of offspring, host Thanksgiving and Christmas morning. He has a really big house and puts up a ginormous tree for Christmas. All of us Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, gather Christmas morning early for the kids to open gifts and then we have a potluck Christmas brunch. Going into the living room lit mostly with Christmas lights is still kind of magical to me, all darkness and expectation.
This post didn't go where I thought it would but many things don't. Hope your weekend went well.
I'm serious fan of South Korean films and like Chinese and Japanese films. I have most of Akira Kurosawa's films with Toshiro Mifune on my DVD shelf. Not all are samurai films. We lived in Honolulu when I was a young kid and my Dad took us to mostly Japanese films, he also spoke Japanese so he'd fill in where the subtitles left us wondering. Kids on the mainland were watching cowboys; my sister and I were soaking up samurai tales.
And other films. Some of the most frightening ghost/supernatural stories I ever watched were Japanese. No surprise they came up with the first "Ring" in 1998.
Much later I saw and was struck by "Raise the Red Lantern" and began watching Chinese films. Living back in Seattle afforded us access Asian films in theaters and I was fortunate enough to live near Scarecrow Video, a most excellent video store. The last few years I've become attached to South Korean films and dramas. Since I retired and moved to SE Washington to be near my kith and kin I'm mostly dependent N-flix, some Amazon and buying more DVD's. My favorite streamer of Asian films was dropped by Warner. Boo!
Our local theater usually plays films for what I think of as the 15-25 crowd of young men. Although this week they are showing "Harriet" and the "Good Liar." I have seen all of the Avenger films and most of the X-man films as well. In spite of what Martin Scorsese thinks, they were good and a couple were exceptional. I loved "Logan," the swan song of Wolverine. So hooray for the boy's films. Once when my sons were in middle and high school, we had a particular bad week, complete with the flu, couldn't go anywhere so I loaded up on comfort food and rented three "Mad Max" films and we had a Mad Max Marathon. That was before Mel Gibson turned out to be such a stinker. I digress.
Not favorite and favorite: I got into a historical drama called "My Country" on N-flix. I've really enjoyed it plus it's about some Korean history with which I'm familiar. I like to look up maps and history of what I watch. The cast is excellent and it has one of the best/worst villains. It has 20 episodes. N-flix advertised 16. Then it came to a halt at 12 just as the story got really interesting. Turns out you can contact N-flix so I did, and they told me they did not get the licensing rights past 12. I follow a recap blog from S. Korea and they've already seen it through episode 16 at least. I can see the plot and some photos if it doesn't show up where I can watch it. Still, I'm po'd, this is my not-favorite thing right now. However I can hardly wait for the third season of "The Crown" to start.
Not very favorite. What's with Christmas music playing the stores since Halloween? No, not good. I have finished about half of my Christmas shopping and gift making. I have a pile of grandkids (add 1 for the spouse of the married one), 2 foster grandkids, and my niece and nephew etc. etc. and I freak out on November first every year. Actually it's not the presents, it's the wrapping that I don't like, which is my own fault, I make a production of it. I try for arty wraps. Last year I wrapped them in paper bag like paper, rough twine and tied little tiny hemlock cones I gathered in the park with the twine. I wish I had taken a picture. Why, I ask myself? The littlest ones just shred everything. Pogo is right, I have seen the enemy and it is me. Ha,ha.
Another favorite. My son and his wife Heather, with the scads of offspring, host Thanksgiving and Christmas morning. He has a really big house and puts up a ginormous tree for Christmas. All of us Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, gather Christmas morning early for the kids to open gifts and then we have a potluck Christmas brunch. Going into the living room lit mostly with Christmas lights is still kind of magical to me, all darkness and expectation.
This post didn't go where I thought it would but many things don't. Hope your weekend went well.
posted by Celia | November 17, 2019
4 Comments:
I'm not so much of a movie buff, more of a book buff.
Had to laugh, every year I swear I will make or get presents all year long so that Christmas is not so stressful. Well I do make or get presents to give... but, I seldom wait for Christmas to give them, and then Christmas is here and there are few presents left.
Miss our big family gatherings during Thanksgiving and Christmas, just not the same without my MIL & FIL to gather the clans.
I hate wrapping too. The worst chore of the seasonal year in my opinion.
Your holidays sound wonderful with the large family you have. Enjoy!
My weekend went remarkably well. G is off to a meeting and I am into isolation for the first time.
I no longer wrap. I have pre-wrapped boxes with real ribbon, and there are bags too. It makes my litte tree look like fun. There's a gathering of stuffed bears too.
While we lived in the South Pacific we had no TV and watched a bunch of Mifune movies. I also really liked them. I also hate wrapping and many times use those expesive bags.
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