Whatever Wednesday - Hamnet

 Lots of buzz for Hamnet. Golden Globe nominations, etc. 

This was a very intense, rather sad, but a wow movie.  The acting was superb. 

Directed by Chloe Zhao and based on the book by Maggie O'Farrell (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Zhao), Hamnet is a fictionalized version of the creation of the famous Shakespeare play Hamlet. 

We watch William Shakespeare (a magnetic Paul Mescal - oh, his eyes) fall head over heels for Agnes (Jessie Buckley - tremendous).  He's off to London to try to pursue this playwriting thing.  She's home with children. She's a strong woman, known for her forestry skills and wildness. She has to deal with his mother, Mary (a strong Emily Watson).   When Will's home, Agnes and he are a hot passion on screen. 

Agnes has to deal with "the pestilence" when it hits her eleven year old twins - Judith and Hamnet.  Alas, Hamnet ( a superb young actor Jacobi Jupe) dies (this is true in 1596).  She mourns.  She thinks Will doesn't care.  

Only when she goes to London and witnesses Will's new play Hamlet does she realize the depth of his mourning.  (cool fact - the young man playing Hamlet (Noah Jupe) on screen is the much older brother of the young actor playing Hamnet. Lots of talent in that family)

Have your tissues ready.  This film is quite intense and just hits the gut at multiple times.  Gotta love creative cinema.  Kudos. 

Monday Moments - Pickleball, Anyone?

 Happy Monday, everyone.   Ray has a new pickleball partner.  Anybody up for a game?

Tis the season here.  Feeling festive.  We have some projects going on out front (awaiting worker bees), so no decorations.   Then Santa arrived (found him at At Home, on sale) and decided he could wave to everyone for now. 

It's mid-December.  Hope everyone is staying healthy and having some fun... and a Christmas cookie or two. 

Finally Friday - Heart the Lover by Lily King

 Heart the Lover by Lily King is a new connective thread book (from Writers and Lovers).  We see Casey in her senior year of college meet and fall for Sam and Yash - stars of 17th century  lit class.  

cover  blurb - She discovers the pleasures of friendship, intellectual ambition, the intoxicating world of academic fervor, and rapid fire banter and fun. But youthful passion is unpredictable, and soon she  finds herself at the center of a charged and intricate triangle. Choices will be made that alter these three lives forever. 

Decades later, Casey's a successful  novelist. She's  married with children. But there's a surprise visit. Unexpected news.  Now she needs to make amends, consider decisions made, and complete a circle from  youthful bonds.

I read this fresh after the first related book. Lily King really knows how to write about relationships and actions and consequences. A very fresh twist took me by  surprise and I found myself tearing up. (I swear Ray always walks into  a room just as I'm sniffling  over a novel).  

I will say I heart both books, the characters, the plot  lines, and the finale.  Well done. (have a tissue ready)

Whatever Wednesday - Writers and Lovers by Lily King

 cover blurb - Blindsided by her mother's death, and wrecked by a recent love affair, Casey Peabody arrives in Cambridge MA, summer of 1997, without a plan. A child golf prodigy, she now waits tables and rents a tiny side garage room where she works on the novel she's been writing for six years.

In Writers and Lovers by Lily King, we follow Casey's fight to fulfill ambitions, balance demands of art and life, juggle two new very different  men, and avoid crisis after crisis. 

Casey is a likeable character, as are the two men in her life. But I wanted to  shake her too. King does a good job of exploring artistic passion, ambition, and the terrifying and  exhilarating leap between the end of one phase of  life and the beginning of  another. (cover blurb) 

Monday Moments - Santa Stranger Danger

 I got permission from my niece  to post this. 

My grandnephew, Myles, now 8 months old, recognizes stranger danger.  

This Santa dude - not having it!

Oh, this is one for the memory vault.  On his wedding day, we'll pull out this pic. 

Merry Christmas December everyone!

Cheers

Finally Friday - Five Generations

Friday filler - Family pics from  Thanksgiving.  Here's five generations:

LD and Joyce (front), begat Ray (right), who begat Chris (left), who begat Abby with Levi (age 2)

Whew!

Here's all the girls - Kevin's  crew with Abby

and Here's everyone.  We gathered at the party room at the senior living  center. Had  Tex-Mex - easier to keep warm in crock pots.  Plenty of food and laughter.

Now we're planning for Christmas. 
 

Whatever Wednesday - The Outsiders

Treated myself to a Sunday matinee at the Music Hall at Fair Park, Dallas.  Nosebleed seat  - could see and hear great.  S.E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders in 1967.  This was a teenager (age 18) writing about teens in Tulsa, OK.   It struck a nerve.  

  It did become a movie in 1983 with a cast of young up and comers - C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, and Diane Lane.  Wow - quite the lineup of future success stories. 

 Now The Outsiders - a musical won the 2024 Tony Award and is touring the country. It is a stunning production and I highly recommend it.  Basically it is a bit of a West Side story tale - only in Oklahoma. The Greasers vs. The Socs.  Nolan White as Ponyboy Curtis had a gorgeous plaintive voice. He's a kid who likes to read, enjoys a sunset, and feels sad for his brothers, his friends - all poor, all struggling. It's a tough world, especially being bullied by the rich kids.  This is a musical about justice, understanding, communication, hope, and respect - all from a teen perspective. 

Great songs, voices, and the choreography was innovative and fabulous. Quite the production. 

Support the Arts!