The Best Movie I've Seen in a Long Time

Hello!

My goodness it has been a busy day. But I just wanted to pop in here really quick and tell you that our family loved The Peanuts Movie! Loved it. I think I might buy it, actually. And that's saying something because I think the last movie I bought was . . . The Lego Movie? And that one I technically bought as a birthday gift for Benjamin, without even having seen it. So it doesn't count in the "movies I like so much that I bought them" category.

Jubilee, as a peanuts character.

Sidenote: I wanted to see The Peanuts Movie back when it was in theaters, but I guess I'm just too cheap to buy movie tickets. I wasn't too cheap to try out the Peanuts character creation tool that was floating around my Facebook at the time though. Above is the one Jubilee and I made of her.

Anyway, the movie made us all laugh. It was so engaging and funny to the kids that they were literally jumping up and down and laughing like loons. And that just made the movie even more enjoyable for Jacob and I.

I liked how the movie characters stayed true to the comic strip characters. It seems like that is so rare!

I liked how the movie also added something to the world of Peanuts. It connected the dots a little bit, you could say. For instance, you remember how Snoopy was always trying to sneak into school in the early strips? Well, he gets tossed out of school one morning and lands in the dumpster, where he finds a typewriter! I'm not a die-hard peanuts fanatic, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I think in the comic strip we never know how Snoopy got the typewriter, right? So that was cool, and there were a few other examples of connecting the dots that made the movie fun for me.

I think it's safe to say that the boys loved the physical humor of the movie best. And, as we all know, physical humor is a hallmark of the comic strip. Lucy and the football? Yeah. They don't run that gag until the credits, but all kinds of fun physical comedy pervades the movie and it had the kids in stitches.

Was there anything I didn't like about it? Mmm, not really. It is squeaky clean and left me smiling.

If you have enjoyed the comic strip, definitely check this one out. It's fun for kids and adults and especially for kids and adults to watch together. We rented it from Redbox, but I'm thinking once wasn't enough for me.

Seen any good movies lately?

Oh, and do you have a recommendation for which Peanuts book I should get for the fam?

Books I've been reading lately

Wow, moving changes everything, doesn't it? We just moved from Georgia to Connecticut and, as I expected, it has thrown me for a loop. However, I didn't anticipate all the ways that life would change. I had guessed the big ones (new house, new climate, new schools, new doctors, new church assignments, new job for Jacob) but I feel like you can never know all the little things until they come up. New way of doing dishes? Unanticipated. New furniture arrangement that puts a damper on late-night blogging? Would not have guessed.

Thankfully moving doesn't really change everything. Same husband (nine years now!), same kids (cute as ever), same church, same blog, same love of reading.

Here's what I've been reading lately.*

Art Before Breakfast by Danny Gregory

This is a slim book that's out to get you making art. I admit I didn't take it as a workbook and do everything it said to do, but Gregory says in the book that that's ok. So basically the book begins by making the case for making art. It answers the questions "Why should I bother making art?" and "Why should I bother making art when I know I'll never be that good at it?" The answers to both of those were satisfactory for me, so I started making some art.

After that, Gregory delves into some basics of art-making. Different materials and techniques you can use. I had a lot of fun trying some of these out. The hands-down favorite was making a ketchup painting with my four-year-old. Yep, coolest mom ever status: achieved. The book also offers up some cool challenges to take (like drawing your breakfast every day for a month) some cool party ideas (definitely want to try these sometime) and general encouragement to make art. I give it the thumbs up.

If you want to read more about this one, I recommend Lisa Congdon's interview of Danny Gregory.

As You Wish:Inconcievable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

This is the story of the making of The Princess Bride, as told by The Man In Black, Cary Elwes. In fact, because I got the audiobook version, it really was told by him! And bits were narrated by other cast members as well.  We took it on a road trip, of sorts, and the whole family enjoyed it. I mean seriously. The first time we turned it on, Benjamin, now 7, whined about it. By the end of disc two he whined when we had to turn it off for a bit. And, cutest of all, he totally internalized all of Cary Elwes's talk about the rigorous training for the sword fight. "I'm so tired. When we get back, can I have a hot bath, like Cary?" Any book that teaches my kid how to chill out after a long day is cause for celebration.

Anyway, I grew up in a family where we watched The Princess Bride over and over. My mom was a fencer and she couldn't get enough of the sword fight. I now know all the details of how that was made. :) She sewed a custom Man In Black costume for my oldest brother, which the younger ones subsequently wore. I read the novel of The Princess Bride and adored it. What I'm trying to say is that I was pretty much destined to love this book. Jacob, however, first saw the movie after we met. He liked it, but had only seen it once. He still loved As You Wish, and instigated a movie party immediately after we finished it. And, superbonus, he kept saying "as you wish" to me for a couple weeks afterward.

If you'd like to read a couple more reviews of this one, I recommend Janssen's and Amy's.

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

I really loved Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, so when I saw this interview of him I had to listen to it. Then I had to read his new book The Buried Giant of course. It's about an elderly couple in ancient England. They're living in a cursed land where people forget important things. and they're trying to find their way to their son's village. As the novel goes on, you find yourself asking interesting questions: "Do they even have a son? Would they recognize him if they saw him? Would he recognize them? Would he be as happy to see him as they think he would be? What is going on with this mist of confusion?" Anyway, it's really fascinating. It's slowly paced, but rather than being boring it ends up being haunting. That Ishiguro. So good.

Fortunately the Milk by Niel Gaiman

This is a slim and silly story. Dad goes out for a gallon of milk and takes forever to get back. His kids ask, "What took you so long?" and he regales them with an epic story of what it took to get them some milk. I read it in one sitting, and it made me smile throughout. I fully intend to read this one aloud to my kids, and I think I miiiiight have to push it on some unsuspecting family members. (I'm looking at you, Grandpa!) The illustrations by Skottie Young were fabulously fit to the tale, and made me want to return to his renderings of the Oz books. Definitely pick this one up if you're looking for something fun to read to the whole family.

The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm

Jacob and I read this one to each other as we drove to and from Boston a couple weeks ago. Since Jacob is a scientist, I knew I couldn't give this one the thumbs-up unless he liked it, too. It's the story of eleven-year-old Ellie and her scientist grandfather, Melvin, who has discovered the cure for aging. Now that he is young again, a mix-up with the police has made it necessary for Melvin to attend middle school with Ellie for the time being. It has a set of deep themes that run through the book and make it more than just a fun read. Plus, Jacob laughed out loud at least twice at the insider science jokes. We each give it the thumbs up.

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

You may have remembered me mentioning that I was starting this book? Way back when? Well don't let my slowness to finish deter you. It was a good one. I finished it the week after we moved in. I won't recap it here, instead I'll refer you to my review of the first book in the series, The Way of Kings. You'd definitely want to start there. I'm looking forward to book three.

Oh man, you guys. There is more where this came from! I think I should just stop here. But please:
Tell me what you've been reading lately!
Fill in the blanks: If you hate___ you'd hate this book. 

*As usual, the images of book covers here are affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Just wanted to make that known. Thanks for supporting Everead.

One of my favorite books is now a movie: HOME

... and I haven't seen it yet. Aargh!  Gotta get there. Has anybody seen it yet? They were running a good ad campaign last week, I have to say. I saw at least two or three advertisements for it -- one a clip of the trailer that played in between angry birds levels that Benjamin was playing.

Here's the trailer, in case you haven't seen it. The movie is not called The True Meaning of Smekday, which is the title of the book. Nor is the movie titled Happy Smekday, as I originally thought it would be. It is called Home. And I think it's super funny that the real J. Lo is part of the film. That's just so cool.



It looks like it will be different from the book (of course), but I'm still excited about it. I heard from Linda at Gallery Nucleus that Adam Rex had done some work on the movie. Some of his art is available for purchase through Gallery Nucleus, here. And, it looks like there is a book about the movie's art, called The Art of Home.

In preparation for the release of Home, Jacob began reading The True Meaning of Smekday to the kids at night. They're not quite finished with it yet, but Benjamin, who is only six years old, is excited enough about the book that he has read ahead a little bit.

So, are you going to see it? If you've already seen it, what did you think?

Previous Smekday love on Everead:
The True Meaning of Smekday book review
Fangirling over the Smekday movie announcement
Smekday featured on my "Good Books to Read Aloud" post
Smekday featured on "Books for a 13 year old boy: 10 exciting titles to keep him reading"
The first pick on my "Books for 14 year old boys?" post.

By the way, I'm dying to get my grubby hands on the sequel to The True Meaning of Smekday. It's titled Smek for President and features a trip to New Boovworld.
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This post does not contain any affiliate links. Just good ol' fashioned fun!

I hated this book: Gone with the Wind

You guys I finally finished Gone with the Wind! Phew. I'm so glad that's over.

Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
This image is not a fair representation
of what lies inside.  

It was very well written, highly informative, and fascinating. But despite its literary merit I will here assert the validity of my own emotional response, and say . . . I hated it.

I couldn't relate to Scarlett very well. I don't think you're really supposed to relate to her, but that's not the point. The point is the whole book is about her crazy, stressful life and how she overcomes hardship and tragedies of all kinds. That sounds great, but ugh it just was not great for me! I was totally stressed out reading this book. Especially when she first returns to Tara. I put the book down to do dishes. I saw the crusted rice on the bottom of my rice cooker and thought, "That's perfectly good rice! We should just soak it again and eat it. It will save us from starvation!" Rinsed rice down sink. Felt horrible about it.

Anyway, it's easy to see why this book is a classic -- why it has endured the test of time so well. I learned quite a bit about the Civil War and race relations in the South at that time, and it was enjoyable to do so. :) But, yeah. I hate Scarlett. I've decided that it must be because I'm like India Wilkes (at least when it comes to how I feel about Scarlett). Also hated Ashley. Rhett's alright. Melanie just keeps getting more awesome, throughout.

I know for sure that part of my problem was the sheer length of this book. I borrowed a copy from my friend Katie and couldn't even bring myself to begin reading it until I downloaded a free sample of the e-book. I got into the book and interested in it and then I could stand to heft it. (Let me toss in a couple affiliate links to the e-book, in case you want to go that route. Here's one: Gone with the Wind. Here's two: Gone with the Wind.)

Have you read it? Did you enjoy it? I really must know WHY you love it, if you do. Many friends have told me they love it, and now I want to hear ALL about how you overcame all your chances to hate Scarlett and liked this book. Ready? Go!

Me and Scarlett, showing our disdain at #DBF2014

p.s. Yes, I saw the movie once, many years ago. Don't remember much from it, but I can still say the book was better than the movie.

Movie Review: The General (1926)

Remember when I said I wanted to see the looks on my kids faces while they watched a Buster Keaton film? Well, I've seen some of them now, and I have one word: priceless.

A little bit of backstory: We wanted to do something to celebrate the last day of school. (Benjamin's first ever last day of school!) Our plan was to have a family movie night and watch The Lego Movie, which we have heard so many good things about. But it turned out that it wasn't available to rent yet. While I was determining whether or not we could rent the Lego movie, Levi and Jubilee went to bed. I had mentioned to Jacob earlier that I wanted to watch The General with Benjamin, so he turned it on.

Unfortunately, Benjamin was still dead-set on the Lego Movie; and, he couldn't quite grasp the concept that it wasn't available yet. So he began watching The General with a bad attitude -- whining and begging us to turn it off. That only lasted the first 5 minutes or so. I can tell you for certain that he was squealing in delight by 11 minutes in. Benjamin loved the physical gags that Keaton is so famous for.

I appreciated the drama of the situation: our hero is a railroad engineer, visiting his sweetheart in Marietta, GA. Just as the two lovebirds are cuddling up on the sofa, the Civil War breaks out. Johnny goes to enlist in the confederate army, but is rejected by the army and doesn't know why. His girlfriend is misinformed and believes he never tried to enlist -- the relationship is on the rocks. Well, of course he goes on to be a hero in the war effort and make amends with his love. The whole movie builds toward a spectacular train wreck -- literally.

It's a great movie to watch now -- I can only imagine how awesome it was in 1926, when it was released. The stunts are thrilling and funny: I admit to exclaiming in alarm at one of the stunts Keaton does. The dialogue was great. "Wait . . . what? I thought it was a silent film!" you say. It is. But I about died laughing at the line, "If you lose this war, don't blame me!"

We were reading the title cards to Benjamin of course. He is a good reader these days, but reading them out loud was a way to get him engaged early on when he wasn't so thrilled to be watching. It also helped that the film was set in Georgia, and that we had driven through Marietta only days before. How cool is that?Occasionally we narrated the action for Benjamin, but not much once he got into it.

In short, this was a great family movie, made even more fun by my having read Bluffton, by Matt Phelan. We totally loved it!

Have you seen The General? What are your favorite old films? I'd love some recommendations.

Austenland Trailer!

The official movie trailer for the Austenland movie is here! Yay! It debuts August 16th in N.Y. and L.A. with other cities to be announced.



It is based on the book Austenland by Shannon Hale, of course!

Funny thing: Benjamin just said, "What's Austenland mom? Is it Alice in Wonderland, but Austenland?" "Haha! Kind of."

OooOooh, Smekday movie!

Just found out that this is a thing. Apparently, the movie will be called "Happy Smekday!" That makes sense to me, as "The True Meaning of Smekday" would be a long movie title, and probably not a great fit, since it's supposed to be the title of Tip's essay for school. It looks like it's going to be animated, rather than live-action. I think it could make a great movie, but I hope it's done well!

Have you read The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex? Would you see it as a movie? Smekday is one of my favorite books to lend out to friends. It's funny, poignant, hilarious, clean, and side-splitting. Also it makes me laugh.

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Previous post about Smekday

(& thanks for the heads-up, Ashlee!)

Austenland Movie Update!

Such exciting news! Austenland has been picked up for distribution! (Austenland -- you know, that movie, made out of that book by Shannon Hale? Produced by Stephenie Meyer of Twilight fame? Directed by Jerusha Hess who cowrote Napoleon Dynamite? Starred in by Keri Russell and Jane Seymour and Jennifer Coolidge and Bret McKenzie and all kinds of other funny and respectable actors?)

Haven't heard anything yet about when it will be in a theater near you or anything. But I will be ready to jump right into my seat as soon as I can! I heard it was well received at Sundance. :)

Winter's Tail: How one little dolphin learned to swim again

Winter's Tail: How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim Again
by Juliana Hatkoff, Isabella Hatkoff, and Craig Hatkoff


I checked this movie out from the library in an effort to find something my 3-year-old and I could watch together (i.e. NOT a 30 minute episode of a girl/boy/anthropomorphized animal rescuing a monkey/jaguar/anthropomorphized animal).

Winter played herself in the movie. Because, you know.

Struck gold! We were both drawn into Dolphin Tale (2011).  I recognized the story when it came to film because Ashley reviewed this book and we did a give away of it back in October 2009. I'll be the first to admit the film is rather cheesy. Still, truth be told, it did tug on my heartstrings a little. And seeing Winter swim on screen is completely absorbing. My curiosity was piqued, and I had to know how much of the movie-version was true. So, I checked out this book.

The title is a bit much, but the story is awesome!

It is the story of a dolphin named Winter who lost her tail but learned to swim without it. Then, when it became apparent that her new swimming style was damaging her backbone, she learned to swim with a prosthetic tail. (!)

So. Cool. Winter's real story is much more dramatic than it was in the movie (and the family drama of her trainers and handlers never comes up in this non-fiction work). The book gives the facts succinctly and they are awe-inspiring. Once I was distracted by some ambiguity - "wait, did her tail fall off?" but it was clarified. (Answer: Yes) A little bit of cheese makes it's way into the text near the end of the book, but overall it's solid.

The book is going to appeal to people of all ages -- it did in our family. Though Jacob was completely uninterested in the movie, he couldn't help but smile while reading the book. His favorite part was when Winter swished her new tail in Panama's face. I loved how people at Hanger Prosthetics offered to make her tail. Benjamin loves the photo series where Winter paints a picture.

Also, this book taught us new vocabulary. Benjamin learned the word prosthetic. I'm so happy that he knows it. It seems like respectful terminology goes so far in developing respect for others. A "fake leg" isn't a real thing, you know? Jacob and I learned the word peduncle. It is the narrow part of the body of a dolphin (or a fish) that the tail connects to.

Seriously, I'd be interested in a sequel to this book. Check it out when you get the chance.
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Previously:
Ashley's review of this book
Joy's review of the movie novelization

The Hunger Games

So, yeah, the movie opens! Anybody see it at midnight? Anyone going to see it in theaters soon? Who's planning to wait till video?  Anybody reading this who isn't interested in seeing it at all?


On the subject of The Hunger Games books, Laura Bogart has written a fantastic, moving piece about domestic violence and the Hunger Games. I’m really gratified that the books spoke to her — I had some friends who found the ending to the series unsatisfactory. I, for one, thought they couldn’t really end any other way. Well, I suppose they could but it would have been phony. The series is one of those that makes me grateful for my relatively uneventful life and peaceful existence. Its a wonderful reminder, every now and then, to get some perspective and be able to say again, “I really do have it good.”


I'm curious about your intentions with the movie. Leave your plans in the comments, or click the poll in the sidebar!


(Thanks to bookshelves of doom for sending me to that article.)


ETA: Here are the poll results!
I'll see the Hunger Games movie...
already have! -- 3 votes, 27%
soon, in theaters. -- 2 votes, 18%
when it comes home with me. -- 1 vote, 9%
never. -- 0 votes, 0%
not sure when. -- 5 votes, 45%

Wives and Daughters

this is the cover my copy had

I just finished this book for our book club, and it was a a doozy! My copy was more than 600 pages. I don't have anything against long books in theory, but when it comes down to it I honestly do begrudge them their length. I used to pride myself on reading long books all the time (ahem, Wheel of Time series) but since then I've been shorter and shorter books (YA fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Graphic Novels). Now I respect a book that can tell a detailed story in few words. That's not this book -- but I liked it surprisingly well anyway.

I had been warned before I started Wives and Daughters that author Elizabeth Gaskell died before she finished it. It was published as a serial in a magazine, a few chapters at a time over the course of some years, and the last chapter was never written. So I was prepared to imagine my own ending, and really one knows where the story is going in large part. However it was still a bit of a blow to go from Mrs. Gaskell's detailed writing to my own weak imaginings. Yes, I had heard there was no ending (and to watch the movie version, which has one) but I still expected there to be more of an ending than there was.

Wives and Daughters is the story of Molly Gibson, daughter to the country doctor. Widowed Mr. Gibson remarries in Molly's teen years, mostly so that Molly will have a mother figure.  His new wife, a widow herself, has a daughter about Molly's age. The book is about all of their relationships.

Here's my breakdown of some of the main players:

• Molly - our protagonist. Deadly serious and highly moral.
• Mr. Gibson - Molly's father. Humorous and highly moral.
• Mrs. Gibson - Molly's new stepmother. Silly and idiotic, occasionally harmful.
• Cynthia - Molly's new stepsister. Beautiful and charismatic, beloved by everyone despite her flighty nature.
• Roger - our love interest. Not handsome, but very pleasant and intelligent and moral.
• Osborne - Roger's older brother. A poet with a weak constitution and penchant for keeping secrets.
• Lady Harriet - Daughter of local nobility and my personal favorite. Humorous, silly even, but always charitable.

From the movie, which I will be seeking out.
Image from  Enchanted Serenity Period Films

Mrs. Gaskell lived and wrote contemporary with the Bronte sisters, and this book, like Jane Austen's books is set in post-Napoleonic England. It has less of the dark mystery feel than Jane Eyre does, and rather more of the exposition and daily detail than Pride and Prejudice.

Strange as it may be, despite the fact that this book was hugely long and has no ending and takes a bit of getting into at the beginning, I really do recommend it. If you're at all interested in it, I would say read it! It always has a certain charm, and employs an enjoyable wit as well. This is a line from Lady Harriet in one of my favorite scenes: 

My solitude requires a listener, to whom I may say, "How sweet is solitude."

Incidentally, the book is past copyright and available for free online. I hope you enjoy as much as our book club did!

What do you think? Will you be seeking out some more historical drama now that Downton Abbey is over for the season?

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Previously from Elizabeth Gaskell: Ashley reviews North and South.

Hugo Movie

So, The Invention of Hugo Cabret has been made into a movie. And it's out in theaters now! I knew it was being made, but didn't realize it was out already. Here's a trailer for you.



Music is sounding a little cheesy to me, but I'm digging the production design -- very much like the book.