About Time (2013)

It was about time, and no pun intended here, that hey showed a decent film on telly.
Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) - ginger-twerp as he is fondly called - is from Cornwall, England who had a beautiful childhood growing up. However, he is geeky and awkward around the ladies. So on his 21st birthday when his father tells him about a gift every male member of the family was granted when they turned 21, Tim is pleased. He is surprised to learn he can travel back in time! Tim is soon off to London to pursue  a career in law and there by happenstance he meets Mary (Rachel McAdams), the girl of his dreams. He uses his gift to fall in love and get married. But Tim unselfishly also helps better the lives of those he cares deeply about - A dear playwright friend becomes a raving success thanks to Tim's intervention, his sister finds love and marriage and Tim spends time with his dying dad, moments that he will cherish for an entire lifetime. However, before bidding farewell, his dying father shares his own "secret" to happiness. And it is this secret that will open Tim's eyes, inadvertently helping him to appreciate life, living each day as if it were his first and last.
I found the concept of time-travel intriguing and I have watched "The Time Traveller's Wife" numerous times. However, I found "About Time" extremely touching and adorable. Tim says and I quote, "enjoy the rest of the ride for as long as you can", my now favorite movie quote ever.
This is one movie I would keep going back to.

Word for the day :-
lithe - (especially of a person's body) thin, supple, and graceful

Lights Out! (2016)

It was early Saturday morning and I was lucky to score some cheap tickets for the movies. Hubby was off travelling and when he was back, surprise (and as you can imagine, nothing could have been worse😂)! But a smug me dragged him off to the cinemas. I had to watch "Lights out" being that I was on a 'horror flick' roll. But a new release like that didn't have any reviews to go by so the name James Wan was all it took to draw me like a magnet!

Keeping it simple, Sophie (Maria Bello) has a house guest ... Diana , a dear friend who Sophie has befriended in her darkest hours. However, Diana is possessive and she refuses to share Sophie with anyone,  not even with her own family! Can Diana succeed in keeping Sophie away from her husband - Paul (Billy Burke), daughter - Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) and son Martin - (Gabriel Bateman)? Why is Diana visible only when the lights are out? Is she for real?

Just the name James Wan conjured up the goose-bumps! Not the greatest of films but I could let that pass as I didn't have to spend too much on the tickets. A full house for the first Saturday after release; brimming with students ...

Word for the day :-
oeuvre - the body of work of a painter, composer or author; a work of art, music or literature

"Trading Places" (1983) with "Soul Man" (1986)

Need a good laugh and it's mission accomplished with both these films. A high-five to the perfect duo!

Randolph (Ralph Bellamy) and Mortimer ( Don Ameche) Duke are two rich brothers who own a

successful brokerage firm in Philadelphia. Louis Winthorpe ll (Dan Aykroyd) works for the brothers as a commodity broker and leads a privileged, upper-middle class life. On the opposite end of the social scale is Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy), a street opportunist looking to make a quick buck. The Duke brothers encounter Ray and an opportunity opens up for a bet. They believe that under the right circumstances even a poor person like Ray could make good and become another Louis Winthorpe. Soon Ray is living Louis's privileged life - a company owned home, a butler at his disposal, a chauffeur driven car and entry into an elite tennis club while Louis is out on the streets having lost his home, friends and fiancé and all his money. Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis), a prostitute, after hearing his story feels sorry for him and takes him in. From here on starts Louis's mission to get his life back on track. A perfect cocktail of "gigantically hilarious" proportions with Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Trading Places is based on Mark Twain's "Prince and the Pauper", an early 19th Century publication.
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Mark Watson's (C. Thomas Howell) dream has come true - he has been accepted into law school at Harvard. But this comes at a cost! When Mark Watson gets his college acceptance letter his happiness is short-lived. Even though he is from a wealthy family Mark is forced to pay his way through college and this seems highly improbable. So Mark decides to apply for a  scholarship, which is incidentally only for African American students. Surprise, surprise - Mark is as white as they come. But a man's got to do what a man's got to do and Mark decides to cheat. Mark exceeds a tanning pill dosage and  now seemingly Black he must face Harvard life. On his scholastic journey he meets and falls for Sarah Walker (Ray Dawn Chong) and is greeted with a few surprises that forces him to question his ways.
Soul-searching and funny!

A mi hermana, te extraño ( To my sister, I miss you .. )

This is for my little sister .... Having been the older one, it was a privilege and a matter of pride. We are not too far apart in age and have grown up together having been an important part of each others lives. There are such fond memories that come to mind and it seems like only yesterday - we would stay awake long after the lights were turned out, giggling and swapping stories in the dark. I loved watching horror films but I was scared s#$&-less! I would control the remote and I would insist on watching the film on mute. With my eyes clamped shut and my fingers in my ears my sister would be so upset at not being able to "enjoy" the movie, threatening me that this was the last horror film we would be watching together. I haven't changed! But I wonder at her bravery and that is something she has taught me. I remember the cravings of a midnight snack and making our shared favorite, a steaming bowl of instant noodles that the two of us would enjoy huddled under a blanket. With parents away at work and being left to our devices, we would share our earphones of our one and only Sony Walkman (yes you heard it loud and clear, I do belong to that time) and we would enjoy the read-alongs together. Helping each other with homework, celebrating birthdays, Easters and Christmas and planning exciting gifts and more so sharing life's ups and downs and secrets that could not be entrusted with anyone else ...

I cannot do justice as our whole lives can't be summed up in a few words.

Time has flown and the years have passed, we both have our families and distance has us on different time zones. We each have our share of challenges to face and we don't have the luxury of being able to run to each other anymore. But the bond that we share continues to keep us glued together and something we hope to pass on to future generations.  

And ... there were showers

During the homily at church last Sunday, father asked a very pertinent question! He wanted to know if anyone from the congregation had witnessed a miracle that day and to raise their hand. I didn't have to think too much for I had an answer .. I did have a miracle .. The long - awaited monsoons had finally arrived and I was alive and truly well to experience it.

The skies had been dark and ominous for a few days now .. The clouds were laden and hovered, waiting to spill their drops onto the parched earth. I was sitting by the window when the first drops fell .. Sipping my tea, watching and listening to the music of rain drops as they pitter-pattered down was a miracle in itself. There it was - nature's attempt at gifting us a clean slate after a brutal summer, a new season full of the promise of new life. The birds are reveling, the flowers were in bloom  and soon the rains had rendered the air crisp and cool.

With eyes turned heaven-ward and a prayer on my lips I said "Thank you" for the gloriously cool drops  ... I can only stop to gaze and appreciate the wonder of it all ..  

A self click during a road trip



One of my favorite "rain" numbers

Cant Help Falling In Love ~Patrick Wilson (Conjuring 2)

Elvis in a rich baritone gave us a song that for years later will still catch your breath.

But James Warren was a close second.  

The Conjuring 2 (2016)

I absolutely love 'The Conjuring' and it is one of my favorite horror flicks. 'Hide and clap', demons crouched over cupboards, behind doors, hanging and floating bodies ... I watch the movie every time it is on television and so you can only imagine how much I've anticipated the release of the second part of the film. So with bated breath and fingers crossed I watched this film on a cloudy morning at the cinemas. Now why morning? Good question! Just a precaution on my part that by nightfall, the effects of the film would have faded substantially. So with goose-bumps, here goes ..
The year is 1977! Ed (Patrick Wilson)  and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) continue to give talks on television and at universities on the paranormal. However during a séance, Lorraine gets a vision convincing her that she no longer wants any part in exorcisms.  However, their help is sought by the church to investigate claims of paranormal and demonic activities in Enfield, England. Here the Hodgson families is convinced their house is haunted. Will Lorraine be able to get over her premonitions to help the family in need? I can't tell you any more and spoil it for ya ...
James Wan has managed to up the ante on the suspense, fright  and creepy element. It is a nail-biting and hands down, horrific movie. Please do watch!
Oh and by the way, I am back to sleeping with the lights on, again!

Word for the day :-
dendritic - having a branched form resembling a tree