Good morning.
It’s going to be a bit warmer today and the sun is shining. Win-win.
I’ve been puttering around the house, reading the Fusion GPS transcripts released by Dianne Feinstein yesterday (hero!), waiting to take down the trees (as of this morning Don said I could take them down tomorrow – not today.) His seat of choice is the old loveseat in the living room, where he gets a great view of the tree, so I don’t blame him.
January is always a strange month. We’ve just come off the holidays and now the reality of winter and snow and gray skies and icy roads hits us. Decorations are put away. And we’re faced with fact that winter will last well into March, sometimes even to April. Sigh.
Having Don around takes the edge off of January. We’ve been enjoying our time together before he heads to the city. And that’s just around the corner – he starts rehearsals on January 22nd. When you’re apart for a few months at a time off and on for the whole year, you don’t take each other for granted, that’s for sure!
Speaking of being together, we’ve been so grateful for our chance to watch several new movies via the SAG Awards screeners. So far, we’ve seen Get Out (thumbs up), Call Me By Your Name (thumbs down) , The Big Sick (thumbs up), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (thumbs down) and this one:
I will quickly run out of superlatives in describing this film. It’s wondrous, it’s stunning, it’s beautiful, it’s heartbreaking, it’s life-affirming in the best possible way, it’s healing. I’ve never seen anything like it and it has touched me deeply. Same for Don. We couldn’t stop talking about it. Everything about it – the story, the production design, the direction, the acting – is superb.
Sally Hawkins is incredible in a non-speaking role that touches your heart. As for the wonderful Richard Jenkins; this may be his finest role to date. He is amazing. Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer and Michael Stuhlbarg are brilliant. Such brave work from everyone.
The world that Guillermo Del Toro has created is rooted in the real while embracing the fantastical. I loved the look of the film, the world that has been created, the colors, the heightened reality. It’s pitch perfect. And the screenplay is beautifully written.
So far, it’s my favorite film in years. We’re going to watch it again. And, I suspect, again.
See it, my friends, see it.
Today I’m going to clean out the cubbyhole under the stairs so I can put some of the Christmas decorations there and not feel like I’m taking my life in my hands every time I open the door.
Happy Wednesday.
Hi Claudia,
The Shape of Water seemed as if it would be very disturbing and sad. I’m deeply affected by non-human animals or any non-human creatures being mistreated by humans, or suffering in any way so I decided to skip this. I also would not see Avatar for the same reason.
You mentioned it being heartbreaking, so I’m thinking I made the right decision.
I do love Sally Hawkins. Did you see Made in Dagenham? Wonderful!
Heartbreaking but life-affirming. The ending is very uplifting. I am the same way about mistreatment, but there was never a moment in this movie in which I wanted to stop watching.
It’s simply extraordinary.
Thank you.
My heart is a no-fly zone! I try to avoid feeling too much sadness and the movies that bring it, too. Just can’t go there anymore, especially in a movie theater. I’m not particularly proud of it and I know that it stems from real-life experiences that I’d rather not relive. But the clips of this movie shown on the Golden Globes did intrigue me—maybe because of the fantasy factor. When I can see it in the privacy of my home, I will do it. Helps to know it ends well, though.
Actually, it’s not all that sad. There are moments in the film that are sad, but the end is beautiful and life-affirming.
I have been intrigued by trailers for The Shape of Water. I’m a little leery of Guillermo del Toro due to Pan’s Labyrinth, but it sounds from your review that this one doesn’t hit the levels of disturbing that one did, so I will have to see it!
That is to say, Pan’s Labyrinth was gorgeous, and a good film, but at the end I wanted to live under my bed for a week with my cats and comfort food and books filled with pictures of adorable baby animals.
I never saw it, Amy!
No, I don’t think it’s disturbing.
It seems like so many who have seen the film echo your sentiments. The superlatives are used over and over again. Hope it does well during the awards season.
What are your friends thinking of the weather they are experiencing since they moved? I think you said they moved from the San Diego area? It must be like another world to them! Did they keep a place in CA? Hopefully we won’t have another 2 week stretch like that in many many years.
Senator Feinstein is my hero. Back when Mueller was appointed I seriously didn’t think it would take this long to knock the idiot off of his golden pedestal. I am so disheartened by the whole thing because so much of it seems so completely obvious to me. From his continuing to profit from his businesses with we, the taxpayers, paying for all of his travel and lodging 2x as he double-dips, the horrendous things he tweets, the lunacy he speaks, the way he represents our country, the fact that he doesn’t even know the words to the National Anthem, and the list goes on. I can’t see 2 sides to any of it, so I struggle with “what is the problem holding things up??????” I want to see Breaking News come across sooner rather than later.
Hope you have a productive Wednesday! Enjoy the “warm” weather. It still feels really cold out there to me, even if the thermometer says 40*!
Well, both Rick and Doug lived in NYC for years. Rick was there about 20 years. Then he moved up to Boston, which is where I met him. So they are both used to cold, snowy weather. They’re rather liking it and their dog, Sam, loves it!
You know, I no longer think there are two sides. There’s only one. And that’s the side that says no to corruption, collusion, illegal deals, money laundering, working with Russia and Putin and to a liar in the Oval Office. To me – that’s it. I will not ‘discuss’ anything about the “Trump voter” or those who decided that they couldn’t vote in that election or that Trump was the ‘lesser of two evils.’ They brought this on. And I hold them accountable.
On the other hand, Mueller knows what he’s doing and he cannot leave any stone unturned and it needs to be locked up tight. We already see the GOP trying to smear Mueller and Christopher Steele in order to, what? Keep their tax scam money? Because they’re complicit? Because they took money from the Russians? Yes, by the way, is the answer to all of those questions.
Anyway, have to stop here but I could go on and on.
I truly live reading your film review s. They are honest and unbiased, and you and Don are excellent judges of quality. Looking forward to the rest of your reviews.
Thank you, Debra!
Oh, auto correct! Don, not Ron, and love, not live!
I constantly have to correct live to love! It drives me nuts!
I am going to look for that film. I love sad stories that end with an uplifting resolution.
I hope you and Don enjoy every moment until he heads off to the city. xo Diana
We will, Diana. Cross your fingers that I don’t have to handle too much snow on my own!
I love love love the photo of the cabinet holding the McCoy pots!
Thank you, Carolyn Marie!
When I’m in the mood, I love decluttering spaces, especially if it means I gain more space and can get rid of (donate, recycle, toss) more things out. Hope you get satisfaction from decluttering your under stairs space, Claudia. Our outdoor lights come down this weekend, if it doesn’t rain. Only four or five homes in our block are left with outside lights. So sad to see the discarded trees on the curb. A local Boy Scout troop picks them up for chipping into mulch.
This little space has been a catch-all and working in it means I have to be on my hands and knees, so it’s not fun!
Our lights are still up and they’ll probably be up for another month or so. Because it’s so dark here as well as wintry, they provide some cheer.
I always felt badly when I saw discarded trees. Makes me sad.
I enjoyed the settings, music etc., and their friendship but I wish they would have left the sex out of it. I thought it made the leading lady look lonely and desperate. I would have enjoyed it more if they’d left that to our own imaginations.
I have a totally different take on that. I didn’t mind it at all and if you stop and think about the information we had about her – that she was found on a riverbank, that she has a love of water, and all the other clues in the script about her, it makes sense and explains what happens. I don’t think she looked lonely and desperate at all – I think she’d found home.
We saw “The Shape of Water” yesterday as well. Agreed, it’s a beautiful film with a unique look and feel. What a treat to see such an original, imaginative movie. Sally Hawkins was amazing.
She was stunning, wasn’t she? So much conveyed and it was all non-verbal.
I’m making a movie list based on your recommendations…then I’ll wait until I can watch them in the comfort of my home. Hope you found room under the stairs…I’ve got a closet like that too….but I need to finish purging it first, before I can cram any more Christmas boxes in it! ;)
I have to do everything on my hands and knees because it’s tiny. Didn’t get around to it today, but I will tomorrow.
How wonderful to hear your delight in this film. This is one I may actually go to the movies to see. During the Golden Globes it’s clips and the awards it won did peak my interest in this film. You and Don loving it is all I needed to hear to put it on my must see list.
Mom had cataract surgery today in her left eye and it went well, but it was such a long day. I have a preop appointment on Friday and then surgery on Jan 19th that should hopefully fix my issues ( umbilical hernia). I really need this pain to go away!
I’m glad your mom is okay but I hate that you have to have surgery! Is it on an outpatient basis?
Yes it is outpatient. I wrote about it on my blog today. Just hoping the preop goes well.
If this film is as unique and lovely as I am hearing here today then I must see it!…
Thanks, Nancy!
Well, you certainly have me curious now, Claudia. I saw the commercials for “The Shape of Water” but I really didn’t pay that much attention to them. But between your glowing review and the snippets seen on the Golden Globes last weekend, I am DEFINITELY curious. It sounds like it’s likely to be one of the Oscar movies too and I always try to see at least one of them. So maybe it’ll be ‘The Shape of Water.’ Still have to see ‘The Post’ too [I refuse to miss anything of Spielberg’s or Meryl Streep’s and finally there’s a movie that covers both of them!]. And isn’t Senator Feinstein terrific? I was bowled over by [1] what she did and [2] her comments afterward. Calm, cool, unruffled, confident. You know something? It’s the WOMEN of this country that are going to save it this time. Of this I have no doubt!! And I know all the talking heads are saying that it’ll take at least another year but I have this curious feeling, especially lately, that it’s going to be quite a bit quicker than they all think. The orange one is [as a geriatric psychologist friend of mine said last Fall] “slipping fast…” More and more disjointed and off-the-wall every day. Or is that just wishful desperately-wishful thinking on my part?? Oh well. As Rachel says, watch this space. Enjoy the January thaw [such as it is]. Peace. ☀️
#Resist
#ProtectMueller
I really want to see The Post. It’s on my list!
Women are going to save this country, for sure. We can’t count on anyone else!