Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017)

The weekend at the cinemas had a dismal selection of movies to choose from. So hubby decided to book tickets for, drum rolls please, Guardians of the Galaxy - Volume 2. A fair warning to the male population of my readers that you may not like my version of the movie. In fact, I can guarantee you that. So here is the movie as seen from my eyes ...

Let's begin with the good. The 3D and special effects are awesome and the soundtracks beautiful. However, for me, it ends right there .... ✋. That was a short list eh 😕. As you're catapulted through the galaxies, there is an interesting parade of golden colored people, blue men and a green woman, a 'triangle faced monkey' and what not. However, I found baby Groot (a walking, talking, dancing sapling) cute. Let me correct that, Super cute. In a room full of testosterone, I was so lost. Guys somehow get the weird stuff unlike us romance seekers. But in all fairness the movie did have romance, mixed in with humor and topped with a generous dollop of sci-fi. 😂
I couldn't help my yawning which began quietly at first to only get progressively noisy (you would think I was sleep deprived). But I was wide awake munching caramel popcorn after the interval... Was that a ploy on hubby's behalf? Guess I'll never know. Towards the end of the movie, in the midst of all the tear shedding, I was scratching my head trying to figure out if I was meant to shed a tear or two myself.
A pat on my back for pulling on my game face and 'kind' of being on my best behavior, since hubby was so into his film. It was a little too much when after the movie I was asked if I was going to write about it.
Say what again 🙇 ... Really now??!!!🙅
Anyways, that's that on that ... Ta da ... 

Ghost (1990)

And so the story goes .. that's the way many stories end. But not this one and this is the way I like to tell it -

Hot shot New York banker, Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) and the beautiful Molly (Demi Moore), a sculptor and avant garde are a couple very much in love. Theirs is a romance we all dream of having but this love story is wrought with tragedy. Sam is killed in what is believed to be a mugging and the only way to prove otherwise isn't as simple as all that. Playing detective is Sam's ghost but not alone. He seeks the help of a much sought after psychic, Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg). Here unravels a tale of love, treachery, motivated by greed and then culminates with sweet revenge.
Always a favorite with me and if I need a good boo-hoo, it's on, period!

And with goose-bumps and all The Righteous Brothers (1965) - Unchained Melody

The Jungle Book (2016)

As the story goes, Mowgli's father is killed by Shere Khan, the ferocious tiger. But this was not before Shere Khan is burnt by the Red Flower, known to attract and entice with its warmth but is notorious for the destruction and havoc it can leave in it's path when unrestrained. A wounded and embittered Shere Khan hightails it, unaware of the little human left in hiding. Bagheera - the panther, a total disciplinarian, finds the orphaned toddler and takes him over to the wolf-pack. Mowgli, the man cub, is brought up by the wolf-pack as one of their own and he grows up firmly believing it - he plays and races with his cub brothers and even howls like one. However once Shere Khan, who has been harboring a deep hatred for the human species sniffs him out, Mowgli is forced to flee. So begins an arduous search of his true identity. With Bagheera by his side Mowgli makes his way to the man village but his path is wrought with danger. He meets the majestic elephants, the creators of the forest. Kaa, the bone-crushing seductress, offers to take him "under her coils". Mowgli befriends Baloo, the friendly and carefree sloth bear. He is kidnapped by the Bandar log and taken to the monkey temple to meet Louie, the gigantic and paw-paw loving monkey-king. But all this is inconsequential until he faces the dreaded Shere Khan.
There have been a few onscreen adaptations of Rudyard Kipling's book but my absolute favorite is the 1967 animated version. It's wonderful how all the animals in this movie have been given such human characters. The story line has not veered too far from the original and with the help of 3D technology this movie though a tad bit scary for the children is a good one for the adults. 👌

What is this movie without the song that spells the very essence of this film.

Blackbeards Ghost 👻 (1968)

Godolphin College has a track team replete with misfits. Steve (Dean Jones), their new track coach arrives at the little coastal town blissfully unaware of the challenge ahead of him. On his first night he attends a charity bazaar at the Blackbeard's Inn, hosted by the Daughters of the Buccaneers (the surviving descendants of the Pirate's crew). All proceeds gathered will go towards paying off the mortgage on the inn or else risk losing it to Silky Seymour (Joby Baker), the local crime boss. He has elaborate plans of replacing the decaying inn with a casino.
At the auction Steve wins a bed-warmer that was previously owned by Aldetha, believed to have been a witch and the 10th wife of the notorious pirate Blackbeard (Peter Ustinov). Steve happens upon a scroll hidden in the handle of the bed-warmer and unbeknownst of what might happen he reads out the spell, unleashing Blackbeard's ghost that is trapped in limbo. Blackbeard's only hope of freedom is to perform one good deed. He is brash, has a fondness for rum and is an avid gambler! To top that he is a ghost only his new friend Steve can see. An honest Steve who believes in playing by the rules is inspired to use Blackbeard's unseen presence to help the weak Godolphin track team win the meet and use the reward money won in a bet to pay off the mortgage. That's two birds with one stone - a good deed and liberation from an age-old curse.
A warning here, watch out before you recite the spell - "Kree kruh vergo gebba kalto kree"....
The outcome is hilarious and a total riot and you've got to love Walt Disney!

Here is one clip of what's in store ... This you can't miss!




Word for the day :-
indolent - wanting to avoid activity or exertion; lazy

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

This feels like it happened an aeon ago, but I vividly remember the morning of one particular birthday. I woke up to a beautiful, bright and sunny day. Next to my pillow, gift-wrapped in a lovely pink was a little package. The size and shape told me it was a book. I tore into the gift and Lewis Carrol's, 'Alice in Wonderland' was all mine. So years later when this book was made into a movie, watch I did and now when the sequel came out I told myself that this one I could not miss.

It's Memorial Day and we thought what better way to end the long weekend, so off to fantasy world it was. After six years, it was good to watch and remember Alice.

Alice's father is no more and the family is in deep financial stress. Alice risks losing her father's ship, on board of which she has travelled the high seas having enjoyed many adventures. Alice returns from a trip to China and gate-crashes Hamish Ascot's, her ex-fiancé's, party. He has taken over her father's company and she hopes to wrestle back their family home in exchange for the ship. There Alice follows a butterfly, Absolem, through a mirror  and returns to Underland. Alice's help is sought after by the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and other well wishers to save The Mad Hatter's (Johnny Depp) life. Hatter believes his family was killed during the attack of Jabberwocky Day. So Alice has to fight Time (Sacha Baron Cohen) and steal the Chronosphere to time-travel to the past, in the hopes of finding Hatter's missing family and in turn saving his life.

It's goodbye to Alice, Hatter, White Queen and Queen of Hearts.

So follow Alice through the looking glass and wait for the fantastical adventure to begin .. and remember, hold  on tight...

Word for the day :-
anathema - something or someone that one vehemently dislikes
and also
a formal curse by a pope or a council of the Church, excommunicating a person or denouncing a doctrine.