sadya

My children and I watched 'Die Hard' yesterday evening. Following that, Die Hard 2 was on tv which we watched partly and recorded the rest to watch later. (still have to watch Two Weeks Notice too though, oh well, saving up for when there is nothing on tv for days). Now I'm recording 'Thirteen Days' to watch at a later time, I'm curious to know how much of that movie is based on real historical facts and how much is either guessed or changed for the purpose of the movie.

I was about to say the Bundy family, but then I remembered this thread is about a movie. When it comes to movie, there are many many families, such as the Adams family, I enjoy watching them on screen, but if they'd really excist, I wouldn't want to be part of their family or the family in the movie 'The boy in the striped pj's', I forgot their last name, it's been a while, I'm referring to the parents of Bruno, growing up in that situation is difficult for any child, or the family of 'Legends of the Fall', though it is a beautiful movie and I love the soundtrack, I wouldn't want to be part of their family. Too many more movie families from the past and current times to name all!

I took my children to watch it some weeks ago, the second day it was in Dutch cinema if I remember well. We watched it in 3D as well. It was amazing, even I enjoyed it. The scenes I was hoping for were in the movie and very well done to my surprise. I already know what to gift my children when needed, if they don't buy the dvd themselves of course.

I'm listening to Ellen (Degeneres) monologues on YouTube.

Yes, we rented it once. It was an amazing movie and the reason I decided to try a book by Boyne. Of course I cried, however, this time both my children had tears in their eyes too. We recently rented Inception. It was amazing, but a bit confusing in the beginning. Is Gnomeo and Juliet as funny as Rapunzel? Might be a strange combination, but we rented both Rapunzel (forgot the other title they gave it) and Inception. My children chose Rapunzel, I chose Inception, or perhaps it was the other way around. Both films were worth it. Yesterday Two Weeks Notice was on Dutch tv. I recorded it to rewatch it this weekend. I once YouTubed that movie, but it's nice to be able show it to my children with subtitles, so I don't have to pause to translate something all the time. Tonight I'm watching Graham Norton Show, also on a Dutch channel.

Both countries have amazing and boring authors. (of course, what I consider boring might be exciting to someone else) There are many amazing authors all over the world, as others already have pointed out. I just agree.

I actually love the Blade Runner movie. I've never read the book, but the movie soundtrack is gripping and what an amazing performances by the actors, especially by Hauer. The designs of the future city were fascinating, though I'd never like to live in such an environment.

Sure, I can enjoy such a book if the story is well or the topic is interesting.

My daughter would be delighted to read anything Rowling writes I think. (she's 14 and rereads the Potter series regularly) She likes the humor and the quick way the plots evolve and fold out. Even now she's reading a Potter book in her bed while I'm about to go to my bed and read. (no Potter for me though, I'm reading about Salem, my daughter was laughing when she checked our library books list, novel about Salem topic, a Septimus Heap book, a book titled I killed Schehrazade, I didn't even realise how that list of books sounded )

I'd like to add 'Graham Norton Show', that's a favorite too, though they don't air the newest episodes on Dutch tv. We have BBC here though so perhaps we'll be able to watch new episodes too.

I watched many movies during the past weeks. There was "Titanic" which made me cry several times during the movie, though it wasn't the first time I watched it. I think the tragedy is so horrible it always makes me cry when I watch it, no matter now many times I've seen it. That goes for several movies actually. (yes, some movies and even books make me cry) Finally I watched 'chocolat' after having heard about it so much during the past few years. It was very endearing and funny. (and yes, during commercials I went to my kitchen looking for chocolate, that movie makes you almost smell the chocolate from the screen! I found a hazlenut chocolate and shared it with my children while we watched the rest of the movie ) Yesterday a very funny '80s movie was shown, 'The Principal' which gave me back the '80s feeling from my childhood, the music, the clothes, the style of the movie. It was full of humor and suspense, but also some horrible violence which made me skip some scenes (I had a book to read during the scenes I don't watch, I always do that when I watch tv) while my daughter actually watched the entire movie.

At the moment that's Downton Abbey.

Haven't watched that in ages. Great reminder. We've got both the normal movie versions as well as the extended ones. It's nice to be able to watch the scenes which didn't make the normal movie version.

I took my children to the last Harry Potter movie a few days ago. We all enjoyed it. Yesterday an entirely different kind of movie was on tv, called 'Fly Away Home' which was very lovely and endearing. As often, we've been watching many movies on tv. Yet, what is realling drawing me to tv nowadays is actually a series calles 'Downton Abbey'. So far they've aired 4 episodes in Holland. I'm looking forward to the remaining episodes.

Today I began reading 'The Swan Thieves' by Elizabeth Kostova. It's past midnight here now and I'm about to continue reading in bed until I fall asleep, which could be quite late if this book is written well.

I tried reading books I had bought and e-books I had downloaded first before getting more books from the library. The new books and new used books I had bought, weren't that many, so that was easy. I still have 2-3 books and e-books left which I'm reading now along with new library books I just couldn't resist taking. I used to buy any book which I liked or even if I liked a different book from that same author. The problem with that is, I don't have that much space for so many books. Yet I can't ever completely stop buying books. So I gave away many books which I knew I wasn't going to read again, even though I enjoyed those books. I only kept the books I knew I would read more than once and books with possibly useful information. When I buy books now, I make sure to only buy the ones I know I'll keep reading throughout the years.

I've read the first 3 books of the Septimus Heap series (by Angie Sage) these past days. My daughter is a fan of the series and me, enjoying fantasy, decided to give it a try. It's a wonderful series and since we only have the first 3 books at home (my daughter is saving now for the forth book) I"ll have to get it from the library after finishing the library books I still have to read. Angie Sage really created a lovely place and even though this genre has been written so often, she still managed to create something unique and even added new elements. The humor in it surprised me too. I enjoyed reading this and hope to get the fourth book soon. Amongst other books I'm reading there is an interesting non-fiction book called 'Lost History' by Michael Hamilton Morgan. He provides the many missing and (sometimes deliberately) forgotten links in history. His book also shows how outdated and wrong the words 'clash of civilizations' are when talking about Islamic influence in the world. It was worth buying.

Yesterday evening 'Notting Hill' was on tv in Holland, my daughter and I enjoyed watching it together. Putting Grant and Robberts together gave excellent comedy. We laughed throughout the movie and really needed that. I've been watching many movies the past few weeks. Tuesday sparked a discussion between my children and me after watching John Q. taking hostages in a hospital so his son could get a new heart. It wasn't just a an amazing movie, but thoughtprovoking. It is true though what we saw in the movie, nowadays most people in health care only want to make money instead of helping people too. There is nothing wrong with making money of course, but why have most doctors and nurses stopped helping people who don't have money? Isn't the first purpose of studying medicine supposed to be helping fellow human beings? Or animals if you're a vet, I don't know about their attitude though, I have no experience with them. I did see similar problems in Holland in health care though where people without money don't get help.

I finished a book by Kader Abdolah called 'De Koning' (The King, his latest work) and am currently reading 'Meisje met de scheldnaam' by T. Mateboer which is about a teacher in the '60's who gets a job in a small village where she faces many narrowminded people as well as kind and understanding people. It gives a fascinating impression of Holland in those days, the way people talked and behaved and what was considered out of line, mostly things which we consider normal nowadays. Though not very well known, I get the impression it would be a nice read during holidays for Dutch people who are thinking about taking books with them. Right now I'm in the 4th chapter of the book, can't say anything about the rest of the book at this point. I found this writer while actually looking for a different book (Maeterlinck), the title caught my eye and so far it's been worth reading. This webpage provides some info about Mateboer: http://www.depelgrim.nl/contents/nl/d1758_T._Mateboer_.html. I was surprised when reading about his life, since I never heard about him before while he had led such a productive life. Interesting character.

Yes, it was an excellent movie. You wouldn't expect a movie about that subject to be interesting, but it was interesting and entertaining. Great choice and glad you enjoyed it.

Yesterday '17 Again' was on tv, it was very entertaining and we enjoyed the winks to other movies.

The Dark Knight is on tv in Holland! Once it aired before and then we missed it. Now finally we have the chance to watch it, so far it's an excellent movie. They've been showing all Batman movie versions ever made. It's a great chance to compare them all.

I finally watched 'I am Legend' tonight. It was quite different from the book, but didn't ruin the story imo. It was scary and there was more than enough suspense. Even if it diverted from the book, the story line was still excellent. Some humor in it too. I think the ending of this movie version was better than the book ending. There was more hope for humanity in the movie ending than in the book ending. Still, both were quite sad. It was quite a surprise to watch the Robert Neville character cite lines from the characters of the Shrek movie! When my children were little, Shrek was first released. It became a family favorite, instantly. We watched it for years and I often pretended to be the different characters from the Shrek movie to please my children and for my own enjoyment. I stopped doing that now that my children are 12 and almost 14. I guess they've outgrown me. And then now to watch the movie version of Robert Neville say the lines of the Shrek characters, it was just surprising and funny.

I watched 'The Sky is Falling' today. Very touching movie and a terribly sad ending.

I just finished reading "I am Legend", such an amazing book! It was exciting from start to finish and the ending was so sad. :-(