Some Quick Reviews

As promised, I have no exciting news to regale you with from my days off. I planned to do nothing, and the plan is going very well. One of my Bluesky friends asked what was the most adventurous thing I have done this year, but I couldn't think of a single thing, not even something trivial, though I have learned a few new games. Somehow, I don't think that counts. I was going to meet a friend at a new-to-me gelato place in Laguna yesterday, but I had a headache and decided it was too cold to eat gelato. Maybe I will attempt that adventure in the summer of 2025. My friend Stephanie has an interesting perspective on the meaning of adventure ~ check it out and peruse her cool new blog Swim with Mantas. She has so many fantastic photos!

I have watched TV/movies during the past few days while I was working on my latch hook pillow. The Woman Across the Street from the Girl in the Window popped up as a Netflix rec because I watched the limited series Nobody Wants This, which also starred Kristen Bell. TWATS is a limited series as well, so that part was good, as I don't want to get hooked into a show with 17 seasons. Mostly, I prefer one and done movies. Anyway, TWATS began really well, with one of my favorite tropes, the unreliable narrator, but it couldn't figure out whether it wanted to be a drama or a dark comedy. The ending was completely absurd and ruined the entire show for me.

Hearts in Atlantis was suggested to me on Prime, and I decided that I couldn't go wrong with a Stephen King adaptation even though I hadn't read the stories (these sound really excellent). Actually, I forgot that The Dead Zone was a pretty bad adaptation of a King novel I enjoyed, but whatever. HIA was okay, with great acting as usual from Anthony Hopkins, but the pacing was slow, and it wasn't clear if Hopkins was playing a nutcase or someone with psychic abilities who was truly being pursued by "low men," whatever those are (govt agents?). Suddenly, the main character Bobby seemed to be clairvoyant during a card game at the fair, but that angle was never pursued further. Wikipedia says that many elements of the stories were deleted or changed for the movie, including making sense of the title. 

Love Across Time was another Prime rec, and I enjoyed this one a lot. The idea is that a beautiful 21st century banker visits an old Scottish estate with the intent of selling it off, but the dashing former owner time slips through a mirror and shenanigans ensue. Super cute and romantic! I like the time travel romcoms and romance novels, especially when the man is the one from a past century, since they are all so handsome with lovely manners. Just like they would be in real life, of course.

Hulu kept pestering me to watch Night Bitch, so I did, mainly because it starred Amy Adams. I found the movie disturbing for a couple reasons. First, there was animal abuse involved, which is a non-starter for me. Second, wah wah motherhood is hard. Um yes. And so? Third, the husband was doing his best, not to mention the sole income earner, and she acted like he was a monster. I guess this is all part of the hormonal changes blah blah and her loss of a sense of identity, but we've seen this before ad nauseam. I find it a giant yawner, and as soon as she began mistreating the cat, I was not on her side at all and hoped the dad would skedaddle with the kid and leave her to her weird art. Whatever. I only paid for Hulu again (they got me back with the $2.99 rate) to finish The Golden Bachelorette season and watch Grant Ellis as The Bachelor, which begins on January 27. We shall see what happens after that, but I am not going to pay full price for Hulu, ever.

That's it then. I am going to a fam jam today and then will return to my regularly scheduled nothing.