#notabookfriday

Yes, yes, yes, I know. Hallmark. A whole lot of people do professional level winces when they hear that something is a Hallmark movie. But, I’m here to tell you that as long as you’re willing to dig a little (like Cassie in her garden, wait, I think that’s the second movie, heh), there can be some really good Hallmark finds that are just a fun 84 minutes of relaxation. Also, this one has Catherine Bell from Army Wives and JAG in it, as well as Peter MacNeill. I’m not sure what I saw him in first, but, I keep running into him playing great characters all over the place.

This is one of the good Hallmark movies for sure. We get plopped into the town of Middleton, a small town, and we meet Cassie Nightengale. She is very mysterious, and, through some… things… that happen, everyone starts to think that she is a witch. That causes the Mayor’s wife Martha to try and get the town’s moral committee to kick her out. Luckily, the Sheriff is a widowerer whose kids get close to Cassie, and he starts to as well (in a very Hallmark way).

It’s a gentle movie. It doesn’t rush, and, there’s not really much tension ‘til the end. Everyone gets what they deserve, good or less than good. There’s only one thing that I just have to say about this movie though, is that it, and the other movies and TV series that follow it. I highly recommend to keep watching. Mostly because my favorite character Martha, played by the amazing Catherine Disher, just… her character arc is something amazing. Yeah, I know, she’s the antagonist. Just… give it a few movies.

Today, June 30: in 1960, the premiere of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Like most public libraries, our film collection is a huge draw; we have a history of including the offbeat and the classics, a collection to start a course in film history.

Psycho changed film forever. First, no one was allowed to enter once the film had started, permanently departing from the accepted practice of buying a ticket and staying through multiple shows. 

“Hitchcock wanted to prevent that. With ‘Psycho,’ Anthony Perkins was top-billed, but Janet Leigh was the biggest star in the film. Hitchcock didn’t want audiences to enter during the second half and wonder ‘Where’s Janet Leigh?’ the whole time. So he inaugurated the idea that audiences had to attend from the start of the film, which he said at a press conference was a ‘daring presentations movement.’”

The female lead (Leigh) was killed off 47 minutes into the film;  more than that, the plot was scandalous for the time, and the cinematography fascinates to this day. Watch the storyboard sequence for the shower scene here, and watch the theatrical trailer below. 

A famous singer runs away from her mob boyfriend (who's married) to be a mail order bride (her maid used her picture). She doesn’t quite know what she’s getting herself into, but, also, her to-be husband doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into either. I will warn everyone that it’s a little bumpy at first storytelling wise, and of course, on screen it’s not great for her at first, but then she sorta starts falling in love. And, sorta hilariously, then she needs to convince him to love her.

There is a lot of funny in this movie, some subtle, some not so subtle (like the scene where they get married). Then there’s the scene with the new mother and that mother’s older daughter. It was the best scene in the whole movie. Honestly, it was so good that I think that it could have been a really cool short by itself even. If for nothing else, watch the movie for that scene.

You may like this book If you Liked:

So, in multiple places (including The Brokenwood Mysteries own publicity) I was told that if I liked Midsomer Murders I should try Brokenwood Mysteries. So, I finally did. I heartily disagree that this 10 season (so far) series is like Midsomer Murders, I think that it’s better. And, I think that a better description of the series would be that it’s a lot like Murder She Wrote, with just a bit of Midsomer Murders in there too. Cabot Cove, but, with some very competent police officers instead of a mystery writer solving the crimes.

It’s set in Brokenwood, a town that’s in the North Island of New Zealand. And, there is a lot of death in Brokenwood. Luckily Detectives Mike, Kristen, and Sam (as well as later Daniel) are on the case. And, with the help of the quite amazingly awesome and hilarious Gina, the ME, are on the case. Solving these, unique and sometimes very zany cases.

The cases were always fun of course, and different for sure. I also really liked how we did see some characters over and over, and not just the ‘sounding board’ character (by the by, the character of Jared Morehu was definitely my favourite). But, also, there was Trudy, or Frodo, or Ray. They all wound up being sorta involved (or sometimes accused) of multiple crimes on the show too. Such a fun series. *Taps fingers in waiting* So…. Series 11 then….? Heh.

I’ll admit, there’s a really weird reason why I watched this movie. I mean, it’s a classic, and it has Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman in it as Woodward and Bernstein. But, it actually wound up on my to watch list because it also has Ned Beatty in it (and, he actually did this movie before he was so awesome in Superman).

There’s not a lot to say about it that hasn’t been said. It’s the fictionalized version of the real stuff that went on with Watergate, Richard Nixon, and it’s especially about Woodward and Bernstein, the two journalists who get most of the credit for cracking the Watergate case. It’s also a classic for a reason, the acting is amazing, the cinematography is as well. Oh, and I really liked Ned in this one too.

Said this before, will probably write it again. I’m very surprised that I haven’t recommended this series before.

It’s about Bo, a Succubus who for most of her life hasn’t know that she’s a Succubus, or the fact that there is this entirely humongous world of other Fae who all live and work and interact with the regular humans daily. Not knowing she’s a Succubus also got scary as she hit puberty and such because suddenly she was ravenous for something. And, when she fed to help that go away, she killed people.

We join Bo as she’s in a new place (which, while they never state explicitly is Toronto, they never say it’s somewhere else either, so, let’s call it Toronto) but, soon she’ll find out that Toronto is different. She meets Kenzi (human, and soon to be her BFF), Dyson (wolf and police detective), Hale (siren and police), Trick (whew… this one’s a hard one, he’s owner of the bar where everyone hangs out, and, honestly, everything else about him is an awesome bunch of spoilers), and Lauren (human and doctor, trust me, all those other people often, often need a doctor). And suddenly, her world has changed. Should she run, or maybe if she stays she can find a home and even learn how to feed instead of kill people as she sucks their chi.

Okay, that summary was longer than I thought it would be. And, that is part of the lure of the show I think. It is a complicated show. In the first season it’s very like a lot of its contemporaries, ‘fae of the week’ baddie that Bo and all have to take down (or redeem), but, then, it gets more delightfully complicated. Both in the Fae storylines as well as the romance storylines too. It’s also really awesome because of all the actors that come and go, both the regulars, and the episode specific actors. A lot of them have gone on to even bigger things, both in Canada and in the US. And, they’re amazing in this show too. Just start with the first season, you’ll most definitely be hooked.

Roy loves baseball, and is quite the prodigy. But, when he’s 19 and on the way to have a tryout for the Chicago Cubs, his life is changed.

It’s 16 years later, and Roy gets a second chance with the New York Knights. He’s a very old rookie, and while he doesn’t have it easy (since he’s older, he’s also creakier). But, he still has his amazing swing (literally knocks the cover off the ball). And, it seems like he may not just get to live his own dream, but, perhaps save the flagging Knights from a shady majority owner.

I didn’t realize until recently that this is actually based on a novel (by Bernard Malamud), and that book may have been based on a comeback by Philadelphia Phillies player Eddie Waitkus. No matter where the stories came from, this is one movie that is actually as good as the book (does happen some times). I mean, with Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, and Barbara Hershey how can it not be great. It’s definitely a classic, and up there with Field of Dreams when it comes to classic sports movies.

A dead body is found on a beach. The local constabulary is called in. DS Ellie thought that she would get the DI spot that opened up. Instead, DI Alec has been brought from the outside. And, he has some serious baggage. To be fair, DS Ellie may have some baggage of her own. There’s the media and the family wanting a solution to the mystery immediately, and, there were a ton of twists and turns.

I did guess where they were going as I got to the last few episodes of the season, but, I’ve read and watched a lot of mysteries in my life. And, even though I guessed right, the ride itself was just intense. With David Tennant and Olivia Coleman just awesome (as well as Jodi Whittiker and Arthur Darvill) I could not stop watching this series. (And, am looking forward to the next two seasons!).