Our House in the Middle of Our Street

As the kids start to get older I'm putting a lot of energy into finding excellent resources to teach my kids that are affordable and interesting outside of picture books. Cooked , a 4-part series by Michael Pollan on Netflix, is one of those resources.  As an American in Canada, I sometimes feel a bit snobbish turning my nose down at the options found here. My pitiful, first-world-problem attitude of 'there's nothing on this Netflix'! led me to this series, which I'd never pick in a million years if I could watch Parenthood, Nashville, and New Girl back to back. Such is life, and I'm glad, because watching this--a show I was only marginally interested in--became a full supply of conversation between myself and my kids when we watched all four parts together.  I own one of Michael Pollan's foodie books , but I haven't read it yet. This documentary series is four parts named after elements used in or with cooking: Fire, Air, Water, and Ear...

Even though I didn't read a lot in October, I certainly watched a LOT of good movies in October. I love all sorts of films and for whatever reason we seemed to hit a lot of the movies I've had on my list for awhile when we were in Nebraska. I loved almost all of them and wanted to share the links and plotlines with you in case you'd be interested, too. Those links will take you right to the trailers. * The Drop Box (trailer above) - Break out the tissues and expect to have a sinus headache afterward, because this movie will slay you with all the feels. It's a documentary on a South Korean Pastor Lee Jong-rak and his wife who installed a box where infants could be left at any hour, and they would be taken care of, instead of disposed in an inhumane manner. The box normally 'rings' in the middle of the night, when young women feel they have no choice left. The family often receives disabled children, and throughout the last 6 years, they have helped place hu...

via Watching The Sound of Music was one of the "15 in 2015" items that I was most looking forward to doing with the kids. I grew up on this movie, and had sung most of the popular songs from the movie to my kids since they were very small. Aside from a youtube clip on the famous puppet and yodeling scene, they didn't know much about the movie's plot, characters, nor did they tie all the songs together as being from the same film until watching. I'm not sure how many times I've seen this movie in my lifetime, but I know it's over 10 (which seems fairly high for a movie). I tried to have restraint and not sing along to all the songs that I loved, but that barely lasted the first five minutes when Maria belts out, "the hills are alive, with the sound of music!" I sang along, and was so pleased that the kids also remembered some of the songs from their toddler years, including one we sang to them often before bed, " Edelweiss ". We...

Our family has a penchant for movie watching. We all have our favorites and the genres we're normally attracted to ( him : action and strong hero/epic theme, me : drama with class acting, honesty and redemptive stories, true stories), and although often when we sit down to watch it's something he wants to watch, I do throw in my trump card from time to time. Funny enough, almost every single movie I choose, we both end up liking, though I can't say the same for his choices....! I keep a running list of movies (along with books ) that I want to try to see every year. I hit between 50-75% of them, and I end up liking nearly all of them. This month I even crossed off a movie my friends have been bugging me to see for ages: The Princess Bride. I'm not sure how I escaped my childhood without seeing it, but it might have been the last cult classic of it's time that I wasn't familiar with. Of course I liked it! Here's what else I want to watch in 2015; click on...

Well, that was certainly unexpected. And expected. Stefan and I spent a couple days watching the Oscar-winning drama  Her , and both came away with the feelings of being impressed, creeped out, informed, and well, entertained. The plot is a modern take on a 1984-esque story. The main character, Theo, played by Joaquin and his creepy mustache (and yes, the mustache was a perfect fit for the character!), falls in love with his computer, Samantha, a female companion 'matched' for him from a series of questions. Scarlett Johannson plays the perfect body-less, sexy voice of the artificial intelligence, who 'learns' as she is used. Think charging your car battery while you run the car, but in a much more complex way. As Theo is finalizing a divorce, he starts to spend most of his free time with Samantha, who quickly becomes his girlfriend. The other characters try to accept this new 'different' lifestyle, as a lot of people in the culture have started dati...

photocredit All I'm going to talk about today, is why you should be watching Call the Midwife . Call the Midwife is another BBC drama series that you can watch on pbs.org, with 55 minute episodes, and only 6-7 per season. I fell in love after episode 1 and watched all of Season 1 and part of Season 2 in just two days. I've always had a thing for historical fiction , but tell me it's a true story and I'm almost guaranteed to love it. This is one of the only shows I've watched in my life-time where I find myself tearing up or crying (ugly-crying at that) with every episode. Sometimes out of sadness, sometimes out of encouragement and the hope it shows. *** The story revolves around a group of community nurse-midwives and an order of nuns who share a home called Nonnatus House, and care for the poor community of Poplar in post-WWII England. Each character on the show is not only charming, but sincere and gentle (in their own, sometimes blunt ways) in c...

photocredit My last post was a very long list , and this is more of the same, only with the movies I hope to watch in 2013. Stefan and I are huge flick addicts, and although we only watch roughly 1 hour of TV (movie, or a show on Netflix) a day, we go through, usually, over 40 movies in a year, with the sparse movie outing in an actual theater. Watching movies is just another avenue of my love of literature because it's a story in a visual sense, with a different perspective and rich aesthetics. I learn so much from movies, and within a church educational hour film class, have been able to understand more of film, how it affects culture and how a good story touches us on so many levels including our spiritual sense. There will (hopefully) be reviews of some of my favorites, as writing book and movie reviews is one of my favorite things--I love to share what I find honest and well done--but I know I won't get to them all. The picture above, Les Miserables , was the film...

Source: rottentomatoes.com via Nick on Pinterest Stefan and I recently watched War Horse at home because I practically begged him. I love all horse movies, and assuming they're made for adults (ugh, Flicka), they're usually just enough "American Bootstraps" mixed with sentimentality and one of my favorite animals to give it a good evening rating for me.  The story starts out with a struggling family and a horse auction in a local town's square. The local drunk has just bought, with every last cent, a horse that 'won't amount to much'. The caring son of the man befriends and trains the horse, only to realize the horse is smart, and who is able to completely plow a field, in driving rain, within a day.  Fast forward a bit, and the story takes many unlikely turns. The story follows the horse as he is passed around from master to master, as it's WWI. Money is tight, fast exits are needed, and leisure is looked for in every nook and ...

photocredit Of course back to the regular routine means lots of film-watching for the husband and my downtime. We almost always spend 30 minutes an evening watching part of a movie, or at the very least, an episode of one of our favorite Seinfeld seasons. I had wanted to see this movie for a number of months, when I believe, I first saw a preview for it in theaters. I love any type of true stories, add in the  fact that it is about a famous couple from England, in an era (30s-40s) of great style, and that it was directed by Madonna and I was pretty much a shoe in for liking it.  W.E. stands for "Wallis, Edward", and this is the true story of the King of England who abdicated the thrown for the love of his life in the early 20th century. Wallis was a loud, twice married, and incredibly witty American woman who eased her way into the heart of womanizing and partying Prince Edward.  The other part of this movie is the present day story of a woman named Wally, of...

Source: listal.com via Sérgio on Pinterest Once or twice a year, a friend of ours offers a film class at our church, Grace Chapel. This recent 12 week look at culture and cinema class was over the topic War. In this time we watched a lot of different movies about different types of war (drug, racism, etc.) along with movies about WWI , WWII and the Holocaust. The movie review I will be doing today was from this class, and it's called City of God. This movie was a recent film from Brazil and it has won many awards. It's a very, very hard movie to watch, and if you try to stay away from violence, I do not recommend this movie as it's rife. The movie starts out at the end, and it becomes a flashback within the first ten minutes. The story is about a boy, Rocket,  whose older brother is involved in a gang where they live, the slum called City of God, in Rio de Janerio. Through Rocket's life he must choose whether he will follow in the footsteps of many of the b...

photocredit When I had first heard of Hugo , last summer, I believe, I wrote it down because I loved the idea of a quirky kids' movie that takes place in Paris. When I found out it was directed by Martin Scorcese, I was a little surprised. This is quite the veer from his usual graphic and violent movies like Goodfellas . I did not know this before I saw the movie, but have since learned it was based on the book "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick, which I've never read. This book has won the Caldecott Medal, which is one of the most prestigious awards given in children's literature. This film is about a boy, Hugo, who is an orphan living in a train station's clock tower. He winds the clocks like his uncle, who also passes away, taught him and he is always running away from the Station Inspector, who provides comic relief throughout the film. He meets a young girl named Isabelle and they embark on an adventure to solve Isabelle's failing godfat...

photocredit Earlier last fall I heard about a documentary coming out, possibly at University of Nebraska-Lincoln's campus reflecting about how women are presented in the media. A few of my friends had invited me to join the petition to bring the movie to campus, and early last week, at the beginning of National Women's Week, it was here. I went with a couple of girl friends: some single, some married, some with kids, and it was very enjoyable and informative for all. The movie was free to the public, and they even gave away free bags of popcorn for everyone interested in seeing the film, too. There was an hour long panel discussion after the film, which we opted to stay for. This movie hit a lot of nerves, even in my small crowd. There were many things to talk about on the drive home with friends, and many things I re-hashed to Stefan later that evening, and am still thinking about this week. All in all--any documentary that gets you to think critically and review your experien...

photocredit This past weekend Stefan and I had a 'kid free weekend'. This normally necessities itself about every 5-6 weeks, when we stop and realize we haven't been on a date in over a month! One or two grandparents will take over for the weekend, spending quality time with Lu and Ani and giving us about 36 hours to do as we please. We usually try to find time to relax, go out to eat or do something special like a movie, do house projects that are much easier when not interpreted , and get together with friends. This time...we did all of those. It was a packed weekend but very fun, and I didn't have to cook for three meals--superb! On Saturday evening we decided to use up some Christmas gifts--movie bucks--and go to a unique movie called The Artist . The movie is a black and white silent film, but modernized with a few sounds when relevant to the plot. The story is about a silent film actor who is popular in the 20s, and his demise of fame (leading to his self-worth sp...

photocredit I try to watch a French film or two every year, not only because I love, generally, the aesthetic of French films and the music, but because they're usually really good stories, too. I had heard about The Illusionist from a friend online and immediately put it on my netflix queue, as it reminded me of the story The Triplets of Belleville , of which I own the soundtrack and loved. It was directed by the same person, Sylvain Chomet, and shares a number of similar qualities like animation style, somber color palette, and satirical characters. This is the story of an aging magician and his dying art. As he is renting a flat above a pub, he entertains a curious barmaid who thinks he really can do magic. As he's encouraged by her surprise, she begins to use the flattery (magic?) to her own benefit, having him dwindle his savings account to buy her new clothes, a trip to a different city, etc. Whether this young woman knows the truth is not revealed, but their odd relatio...

photocredit Every Christmas one of Stefan and my favorite gifts that we receive is movie gift cards. Going to a movie is extremely expensive for those of us on a tight budget, and frankly, I'd rather spend $18 on something that I can hold in my hand, like a book, some yarn, or some new fabric. We are also Netflix DVD/streaming subscribers, so there's always the option to watch it at home in a month or two anyway. However, once New Years rolls around we are itching to get out of the house, drop the kids off at one of the grandparents, and go to the movie theater, where we can enjoy the night completely guilt free with our gift card (thanks Oma, Opa, and Grammy!). Going to a movie is a really fun experience, and so we are tedious in our options. What usually happens is Stefan picks out his top 5 choices, and I narrow it down once I've seen all the trailers. We fixed our eyes on Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows after seeing the first one at home a year ago. We both loved th...

photocredit Over the past couple of weeks Stefan and I have watched a number of really good movies, and I will try to share them evenly over the next month or so. They are all from different genres, but I thought this one would appeal to the most broad range of personalities. The story Moneyball is a true story about how a baseball GM and a recent Yale graduate make history with the way they make a lineup. Using crazy math skill, logic, and faith they create a team on a minuscule budget that ends up setting records left and right. Here is the trailer of this true underdog story. I think anyone can enjoy this film with it's drama, comedy, and real risk that appeals to the masses. I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars for great acting, story, and emotional appeal. Watch it ; it's a night well spent.

Source: redbox.com via Debra on Pinterest This was one of the movies I was really excited to see back in 2011. It never worked out for Stefan and I to go out to the theaters to see it, so I immediately put it on our netflix queue and it has stayed at spot #1 until it was finally out for viewing. Stefan is always always a bit skeptical of my movie choices, and especially the romantic comedy ones, but I'll let you in on a little secret...he actually likes about 90% of all the movies I choose. He has a worse track record with his own choices, and for that I give him my smug little face and continue on with my queue dominating (!). This movie, though, perhaps ...was a bit lost on him. Over a lifetime ago when I was in college, I was an English major near the top of my class, with a French minor. Never mind that my last semester I scraped by with 9 credit hours, a third trimester pregnancy, and a deathly fear of graduate students sharing my 300 level rooms which made me quit aforemen...

Source: miss-design.com via Naziha on Pinterest Something Stefan and I love to do is watch movies together. We are avid Netflix users, and we usually average about 3 movies a month and watch many things on instant play along with that. I always have a regular 'movie list' going in my notebook, just so I don't forget any titles that look interesting to me. Netflix makes it so easy for the film addict, because you can prioritize which movies you want to see in an order, or even 'save' ones that aren't available on DVD yet, but will eventually end up in your queue. We watched a lot of movies over our holiday break between Christmas and New Years, and I'm already 7 down! I will have reviews coming of all of the ones I've seen (with the exception of Shrek 3, absolutely pitiful) soon enough! The Child Soul Surfer The Illusionist Another Year Moneyball Midnight in Paris Brave The Last Lions Super 8 Page One Winter Tale Project Nim Jane Eyre (the newest versio...

Recently I watched a movie called " Forks Over Knives" , just another documentary about healthy food choices, our national food & obesity epidemic, and the S.A.D diet (yes, those are the acronyms for Standard American Diet, and they are not far off). This movie was more or less news and information I already knew, since I read The China Study years ago. This was the book in documentary form, from explaining the theories of Dr. Campbell and Dr. Esselstyn, who lament the american diet and encourage to eat a animal-product free diet (vegan) or what they call in the movie, "Plant based whole foods", which is also becoming a popular buzz phrase in itself. I would recommend this information to everyone because if their claims are true-- that diet and nutrition (plant based whole foods) can decrease and diminish cancers and disease --it could literally save this nation billions of money in health care (going from solution based to preventative), keep us all more heal...

Source: buckthefilm.com via Elsa on Pinterest When Stefan and I were in Colorado a few weeks ago, one of the relaxing things we did on our vacation was go to a movie. Rarely do we go to movies in the theaters, but we had a couple hours to kill where nothing was really going on in the city. We each had our "I really want to see this " choices, which were pretty much akin to our genders, but this was the movie we agreed on. I love horses, Stefan loves documentaries and it was a perfect fit. * BUCK is the true story of the real horse-whisperer. The man who inspired the film The Horse Whisperer , Buck Brannaman, had a tumultuous upbringing with a violent father, and finally came to a place of peace around horses. As Buck said in the movie, "I don't help people with horse problems, I help horses with people problems". The story itself is set up in documentary form ranging from his early childhood abuse and neglect, to his early twenties trying to figure out l...