Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

Since I go to the theatre to see films exactly 2 times a year and I LURVE The Beatles, dear readers had better know how anticipated this one was! It was a super cute film that will definitely be loved by Beatles fans and anglophiles in general.  Other folks?  They may not really get it. I don't want to give much away, but I will tell you this, if the world had no Beatles it would also have no Coca-Cola, no cigarettes and no Oasis .  The Oasis I get.....and c'mon....that is a clever joke.  But the Coke and the cigarettes stumped me and were never explained.  And not much was explained in this film in general.  If you like a movie that finishes everything off and explains it all for you in the end, this may not be for you. But I loved it.  It even brought me a tear or two, and I won't even say why for now.  Let's just say that us Beatles fans will get it.  And that's all you need to know.

  I waited a loooong time before I was ready to give this film a try since it was and continues to be one of my all-time favorite novels.  The film was really beautiful too....full of beautiful people, beautiful landscapes and language and of course the effervescent Regina King who won the Academy Award for her performance here.    My only problem was the ending because it's so skewed from the book, and in my opinion, all wrong.     I don't know how exactly I discovered Tish and Fonny.  I know I was a teenager, and I know I must have checked that book out from the library about 20 times.  Their world was one that was very different from mine and was full of hurt and pain but also so much love and beauty.  It spoke to me then and still does.  My advice?  Read the book first then see the film.  And then read the book again.  And again and again and again......

Intriguing, and at times shocking, this book of short stories centers around the Western United States and the wildness and lawlessness that seems to breed there. Each story stands alone but is also tied, at least in some small part, to a Constitutionalist uprising in a place called Redoubt .  And btw, if you ever thought militia men were scary, this book will do nothing to quell your fears. The only story that seems to truly stand alone as it happens a full century before our recent rumblings of succession is "The Dancing Bear" but even it demonstrates what happens to a man alone, a man apart.  But the overarching feeling of man making his own choices, his inert wildness, his singular drive to be free connects in every story and makes the reader realize that there is always some level of succession happening to someone somewhere in any given space and time. The book reminded me a lot of Cormac McCarthy's superb but troubling The Road .  I can't name any boo

This might well be about the sweetest movie I've seen in a long time.  Smart, fun and full of witty one-liners, it's the off-beat love story you didn't even know you were craving!  I read that this was an updated spin on "When Harry Met Sally" but honestly it reminded me a lot of "Thirteen Going on Thirty".  The fabulous Michelle Buteau, who my hubs and I have loved since Key & Peele, steals every scene she's in and you can't even be mad about it.  This is a fun summer stay-at-home film.  Don't sleep on it!

  You already know the ending of this doc before you begin, but you will cheer your heart out all the way through anyway.  The good news about this film is that while 3 of the 4 women featured met with defeat, there were several other women elected to Congress for the first time in this election cycle.  Hopefully, there will only be more to come.  The grassroots, working woman approach just means so much.....seeing it in action will make your heart swell with pride.  We have to keep this momentum going of the idea that "regular people" belong in politics.  Let's pass it on!