Thursday Movie Picks-Masks

It's October so it's all about the spooky but I veered away from that...a bit. I am not one for slasher films so, sorry Jason, it's just not meant to be. I could have easily picked Star Wars since Darth is an Iconic meanie but I didn't. I was stumped at first but then, all these movies came into my head since so many heroes wear masks. Head on over to Wandering Through The Shelves to see what the others have chosen. Here are my three....

1. PHANTOM OF THE OPERA-1943

This is an under-rated film and the least known of all the remakes but I really love this one and wish I could see it again. Claude Rains plays the Phantom who now has a back story...he is a composer and his work was stolen. He became disfigured and retreats to the underground but comes back to help the beautiful Christine since her voice has captivated the Phantom. It also captivates 2 other men who wish to have Christine all to their own. What will she do? I actually like how this ended since it was a bit ahead of its time (way to go Christine).

2.  THE MASK OF ZORRO-1998

This is another film that has been remade and remade. We have the great Douglas Fairbanks, Tyrone Power and George Hamilton playing this figure on film and there was a TV show also.. I went with this most recent outing since it is fun, adventurous and brought Catherine Zeta Jones to the masses...and to Michael Douglas, who saw her in this film and had to meet her. It begins where Zorro is captured by an evil man who takes Zorro's daughter to raise as his own. A couple of decades later, The man, much, much older, escapes prison when he finds out the evil man is returning with his now grown daughter. He meets up with a thief and starts training him to be the new Zorro. Zorro is for the man who wears a mask, saves the damsel and is heralded by the people. Antonio Banderas is great as Zorro and Anthony Hopkins plays the old Zorro really well. Entertaining movie for sure

3. THE DARK KNIGHT-2008

I think Christian Bale is the best Batman and this film, I think, is my favourite (love the first one with Liam Neeson too). We have masks everywhere in this film from Batman to the Joker wearing tons of cream make up to look the part of a psychopathic freak. You have a man that puts on a burlap bag to screw with the minds of people and have them go insane thinking there is an evil scarecrow. Lastly you have handsome Aaron Eckhart who becomes really disfigured and nasty since he becomes, literally, two-faced. Great action sequences, excellent performances that netted Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar and well written because it makes you think (If you were on that boat, would you push the button?).

I could have gone with Ironman, Spiderman, Capt. America..the list is long but those are my 3. Which would you choose?

Getting my mojo back

I feel much better which is a good thing. My mom...there was a scare last weekend but she rallied although she is very tired. I think her body is saying, "time to go" but she is just not ready yet, she has a strong will to live plus she is really scared and I don't blame her.

Anyway I created a couple of cards and happy to have done them and hope to do more

Rubber stamp, tombow markers, perfect pearls, water, border stickers, red glitter embossing powder.

CHNC-For A Man
Addicted to Stamps-Anything Goes
The Male Room-Technology
Sparkles Christmas-Animals
Happy Little Stampers Christmas-Sparkle

I started this quite a while ago and then I got ill. I thought this will work for technology because this was a huge thing in the later 1800's and early 20th century. I added some stickles and crystals because it's in my blood and I am a magpie at heart. I thought this was a fun card to do and who wouldn't want to be driving around in this type of car. I used perfect pearls with water to add the shimmer to the car, tree, Santa and the presents.

Reindeer stamp, leaves stamp, embossing powder, dye ink pads, sizzex machine, tree Die cut, powders, water, scissors, pop up darts, stickles.

CHNC-Anything Goes Christmas
Christmas Cards All Year Round-Use leaves
Animal Friends-Tic, Tac, Toe-I used the bottom-Tree, Leaves, Forest Fruits
Winter Wonderland-Anything Goes
Simon Says-Anything Goes
Happy Little Stampers: Watercolour-Spritz
Dream Valley-One for the Girls

This is another fun one to create. I just realized both have deer in the card and that's aok in my book. They are critters after all. I have a circle leaf stamp that I stamped and embossed and after, I added the powders over tops and spritzed water to activate the colour. I dabbed the colour off a bit to create a softer effect. After stamping the deer, I cut out the trees with the sizzex machine and placed them on with pop up dots. I fussy cut the leaves out to create a little border on the top and bottom of the focal image. I added some stickles because glitter is a part of my soul. Oh, there are berries between the leaves but I didn't highlight them with red, I just added the stickles to them so they are hard to see.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thursday Movie Picks TV Edition- Family"Ward, don't be too hard on the Beaver."

It's the last Thursday of the month which means it's the tv edition over at Wandering Through The Shelves. This time it's all about family and this topic is ....ready......Huuuuge. One could go the animated route..Simpsons, Family Guy, The Flintstones, to comedy and drama, like This is Us, the biggie right now in TV land. It will be fun To see what everyone picks...here are my 3.

1. LEAVE IT TO BEAVER-1957-1963

"Ward, don't be too hard on the Beaver." "I'll try not to be, June."  Ah, the innocence of the 1950s and how we have so much fun with it now. This was all about the Cleaver family with the patriarch, Ward, his lovely wife who is always in high heels and pearls, June, and their 2 boys, Wally and the Beave. The Beave seems to always get into some hi jinks with Wally and his parents fixing up his mess and the Beave learning a lesson. Eddie Haskell was the family friend who was a snot but always tried to be charming. It's very corny and you truly want to see June drink some gin in the middle of the day and tell Ward to get his own fucking slippers, but you wish this type of family truly did exist....to some degree.

2. THE BRADY BUNCH-1969-1973

It's the story about a man named Brady.....so one is divorced with 3 kids and the other is widowed with 3 kids and they marry. With a happy maid, they all live in a nice home where all 6 kids share one bathroom and the 3 girls share a room and the 3 boys do the same. Yes, people actually grew up this way and didn't feel deprived. I watched this one constantly especially when it went into reruns. We all know Jan had an issue with her big sister, Marcia. Marcia got hit, by a football, in the nose and the boys were all horny but no one ever talked about it. Oh and Cindy had a cute lisp that made me just want to punch her lights out. Some famous faces were on this show like Davy Jones from The Monkees and Vincent Price in a Hawaiian episode. Corny but fun.

3. FAMILY-1976-1980

How can I talk about TV shows about family without mentioning this series that won Emmys and was the precursor for many shows including This Is Us. It revolves around..a family- the father and the stay at home mom. Her daughter who marries and quickly divorces, a brooding son and the teenage daughter who became a big break out Star, Kristy McNichol(who??) who has her own issues. Hey girls swooned when Leif Garrett played Kristy's boyfriend. Oh...where was I headed? Oh yes, the show. They dealt with many issues from divorce, abortion, sex that was considered ahead of its time.  I did watch it even though I couldn't stand Sada Thompson who played the mother. She was heralded as a great actress but I couldn't stand her. I would love to re-watch it now with the mind I have now(oh...that's scary). Oh Some greats were affiliated with this show from Mike Nichols to Joanne Woodward(who directed an episode I found out) and Henry Fonda.

I could have picked The Waltons which was another big family show but I found it incredibly boring. Say good night John-Boy....

Thursday Movie Picks-Just Not Funny Comedies

We've all been there...we rent a comedy or worse, we went to the theatre to see it and sat there, not even having a smile on our face. We leave with the feeling that 2 hours of our life has been sucked out of our life by the necromancers. There are comedians(comedians??) who have made it their life's work creating unfunny movies and we can name them, but we won't......Adam Sandler. Check out Wandering Through The Shelves to find out the other comedy dreck that one needs to avoid. Here are my 3.....

1. THE NUTTY PROFESSOR-1963

Yup I went with this Jerry Lewis film, Lewis recently passed away, and many consider this film his masterwork in comedy...except me. It was even remade by Eddie Murphy, which I also can't stand. When I watched this film, in its entirety, I didn't laugh once. I found his nerd annoying and his Buddy Love character...annoying. I actually think the Buddy Love character was close to Lewis's own but that's just me. This is about a nerd who is laughed at, ridiculed and who can never find love. He creates a potion that turns him into a suave, good looking man about town. He is popular, has a way with the women but becomes more and more obnoxious. Unfortunately, he can't control when he turns back to the nerd and vice-versa. Annoying is the word.

2. ACE VENTURA, PET DETECTIVE-1994

I hated this film and couldn't watch it. I actually turned it off after 10 minutes because it sucked! When Jim Carrey starts playing this type of character, I want to punch his lights out. I rarely turn off a film but this was one of them. He plays a detective for pets and is hired to find a football team's mascot. The police make fun of him but he takes his work seriously. It was a hit in theatres...sigh

3. JACK AND JILL-2011

Adam Sandler....need I say more? I tried watching this but it was just too obnoxious. Adam plays Jack, a married man who has a twin sister who is horrible...also played by Adam Sandler....Jill. Thanksgiving becomes  a horrible mess and Jill takes off and goes from one misadventure to another....who cares. This actually has Al Pacino as  Al Pacino who has the hots for Jill! This was another film I couldn't sit through because it's a nightmare.

Which bad comedies come to mind for you.

Thursday Movie Picks: Financial World

I miss making cards! I'm back to work but I am still weak and am surprised by that since I thought I would be all better. I guess it takes time and I will get better. My mom is the same but talk about a survivor! Let's move on to happier things, namely movies:), this week it's all about the financial world and this genre is not my favourite even though I deal with finances but I'm a credit counsellor not a wheeler -dealer. I'm certain the ones I pick will be popular this week especially the last one. The brainchild of this weekly series is Wandering Through the Shelves, if you want to see what everyone else has chosen, head on over to this blog. Here are my 3....

1. TRADING PLACES-1983

I get a real kick out of this film which placed Eddie Murphy into big time movie land. He plays a con-artist, bum on the street who tries to make money by scamming people. Dan Ackroyd is a sucky who is filthy rich and works in the big financial world, a brokerage firm called Duke & Duke. The Dukes( played beautifully by the great old actors, Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche) are 2 brothers always laying bets often at people's expense. They decide to take the suck and the scammer and have them switch places. What they didn't count on are the 2 men, who are the pawns, to start working together and with a fun hooker in tow start to play their own game. It is fun, witty and well acted.

2. WORKING GIRL-1988

Even though this stars Melanie Griffith whom I can't stand, it is another fun film about a secretary to this snotty woman who doesn't treat her staff well at all. On a skiing trip, the snot breaks her leg. The secretary decides to take over the snot's position and wants to show her ideas to the financial world. She ends up not only stealing the snot's job but also the boyfriend. We like this movie because even though the girl is so, so wrong in what she has done, we condone it because her boss is a real bitch. A smart film and well acted by the leads, Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver and yes, even Melanie

3. WOLF OF WALL STREET-2013

This film garnered all types of awards. One can see that it is a Martin Scorsese film and it is well acted but I can't stand this movie. Yes, it is funny in parts, well written and I can see all the good points but I find it ugly just like Goodfellas. These are people I care nothing about and relish when they are finally caught and the film ends. It's about a man who plays the penny stocks only to create a huge scheme with securities involving Wall Street and the banking world. We see him screw the women, the people and the government and loving every minute. The whole place have people who love to bring in whores and screw them on the table while others wait in line, other women who work there enjoying their jobs..ughhhh. I won't watch this again. It is based on a true story by the way. It also stars Jonah Hill whom I dislike as I feel this person is an arrogant A Hole. Nope, I don't know why I think that, but I do. Oh, Lastly, I'm all for a good swear word, my favourite is the F word but  this movie vomits swear words like no tomorrow...big turn off.

What are your 3?

Thursday Movie Picks: animation for adults

Well, I suck at this one because I couldn't think of one I saw that was all animation so here are my 3. Thank heaven I had last week to dig into what is left of my brain cells and come up with these 3. Check out Wandering Through The Shelves to see what animated films the others have come up with.

1. BAMBI MEETS GODZILLA-1969

I first saw this in high school when one of the priests showed this in his religion class! I have no clue what it has to do with religion but I liked this priest. He was good looking and all the girls tried their best to sit on his lap and twirl their hair but he was always really good and never led them on. In fact, quite the opposite and he once stopped the class and asked for respect. He was true blue with a wicked humour that I loved. For anyone who has problems with deer eating their gardens, you may like this. I still love this one.

2. THANK YOU MASKED MAN-1971

This comes from Lenny Bruce.....need I say more? Ok, so this is very politically incorrect about the masked man who ends up buying Tonto and the horse for ...personal reasons.

3.  BUGS BUNNY AND FRIENDS-1940-1964

I love Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam, The Tasmanian Devil, Pepe Le Pew, Marvin the Martian, Claude the Cat and all the rest. People think of them from Saturday morning tv when they were butchered up due to a-holes who censored these shows and cut up many of the original shows. These cartoons were shown on the big screen with all the Warner Bros. Films. I had a hard time thinking of which one to choose but I decided to show Bugs and Daffy and Elmer...poor Daffy:)

I am slowly feeling better, weak but better and am back at work. My mom is very weak but she was wheeled into the dining area and ate a bit. She refused to go back to her room and wanted to sit in the lounge which made me feel good. My brother has his own scientific test-he buys her a coffee and donut from Tim Horton's. She ate 3/4 of the donut! This is good news. The sad news is that her friend, Gladys, passed away last Thursday from pneumonia. My mom doesn't remember so we will not bring up Gladys's name. Who know...maybe I caught this from the home??

This sucks

first, to all my blog friends who live in or near the path of Hurricane Irma, stay safe and hope you and you family are well.

I don't have our computer hooked up at home yet since my hubby did another debacle so I have no Thursday Movie Picks this week but will show it next week when I am back at work. Yes, I have been downloading YouTube videos etc... from work since blog land is not compatible with my tablet.

The reason...I have pneumonia. It has been shit since I came back from vacation because everyone was off due to vacation or illness which left me to do all the counselling, bankruptcy and other stuff at work. I think it is now my turn and I was told by my dr to stay home and rest. I don't think it is severe which is good but it is enough to piss me off.

So the third crappola shitfest aside from work and illness is my mom....she is dying. She was in the hospital with pneumonia about 3 weeks ago and I thought things turned out well as she was back in Heidehof 4 days later. The sad news is she is going down hill. It could be weeks...or months but I have this gut feeling she will not make it to Christmas. Last Thursday, my brother met with the Dr and others and I was on speaker phone since I was sick. The dr. explained that she has permanent pneumonia in her lower right lung( weird as this is where mine is). Her lungs look like bubbles under a microscope and they have actually decreased in size. They are literally disintegrating which puts more pressure on her heart. Her heart has an arrhythmia and also not in the best shape. She is eating less and is in bed more. If the Drs would try to place pressure on her heart( if her heart stopped), they would break all her ribs. If they did revive her she would be on a permanent breathing machine and a feeding tube and this would not be right for my mom. Quality of life, in whatever shape or form, is what she deserves now.  My hubby has visited her but, the rye bread with German salami I made for her, she had no wish to eat. Oh, I instructed my hubby how to make her sandwich, I didn't touch it.

So, I am pissed and really, really upset that I can't visit my mom. When she needs me, I'm not there and can't be until I am 100% better. I wish I had fun News but there it is. I do have strange news though. When my brother was visiting her, she asked him who the lady was standing by her bed. He looked around and saw no one. A little bit later, she asked what that blue light was by her closet, again, my brother saw nothing. My mom never saw anything weird the whole time she has been ill with the dementia so I leave that thought with you.