Creativity, Crafts, Books, Movies, Greyhounds & Favorite Things

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Every week in 2013, I tried to set aside a little time for an Artist Date. The Artist Date comes from the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Being the final weekend of 2013, I wanted to make sure I did something, so my daughter and I headed out to see a movie.

We went to see Philomena.

The film is based on the book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by Martin Sixsmith, which tells the true story of Philomena Lee’s 50-year-long search for her son.

We really enjoyed the film and more than a few tears were shed by me. I recommend it.

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Every Saturday, I share my weekly Artist Date.

For the next few weeks, I’m going to share some of the stops we made during the road trip I took with my mom and one of my sisters.

One of my favorite stops was Juliette, Georgia, one of the filming locations for the movie Fried Green Tomatoes.

From the 1880’s to the 1950’s, Juliette was a mill town, but when the mill closed, the town went into decline.

When the town was scouted for the movie, many of the building were abandoned and covered with kudzu.

Today, Juliette is a stop for those who love the movie. The buildings now house shops offering souvenirs, gifts and antiques. There is also The Whistle Stop Cafe.

The Whistle Stop Cafe building was built in 1927 by Edward L. Williams, Sr. He ran a general merchandise store there for 45 years, closing it in 1972.

After the movie, The Whistle Stop Cafe was made into a real cafe.

Probably not hard to guess what we ordered…fried green tomatoes.

I enjoyed Juliette, Georgia, because although it is a tourist attraction, it isn’t “slick.” The shops are unique and quaint.

While my sister and I ran around, my mom and aunt were welcome to sit and visit outside the shops.

There was even a stray dog, Shep, who worked her way around town and was allowed to come in one of the shops.

A wonderful day, filled with wonderful memories.

I love movies. If you’d like to read about my favorites, I have the posts gather under the category A Bowl of Popcorn, a Movie and Thou.

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I’ve come to realize that I am limited in my knowledge and appreciation of holiday movies. Here are my Top 10 favorites:

A Christmas Carol

It’s a Wonderful Life

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Miracle on 34th Street

Elf

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

A Christmas Story

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

A Charlie Brown Christmas

What are your favorites? What am I missing out on and need to see this holiday season?

Daily Inspiration

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.

Charles Dickens

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Every Friday in 2011, I posted about a favorite movie.  Here are a few more favorites I want to add to my list:

The Descendants

I love this movie for many reasons.  The acting is incredible, the Hawaiian storyline is compelling, but the main reason I love this movie is how it handles the messiness of loving another person.  Love isn’t for sissies, and this film tells that story beautifully.

Splendor In The Grass

I love this film from 1961 because of the variety and intensity of all the actors’ performances, particularly Natalie Woods and Warren Beatty (his first film).

Good Will Hunting

This is a great film with interesting characters, a good story and sharp dialogue.  The reason I love it…the way it shows how our roots, our past and the stories we tell ourselves effect how we live in this world and how we can move through them.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

I just watched this film for the first time.  I love Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton together and separately.  There are many reason to admire this film, but the reason it took my breath away was the raw, brutal force of it.

Fargo

Fargo is a dark comedy/crime drama from Joel and Ethan Coen.  I love many of the Coen Brother movies because they aren’t afraid to deal with the chaos and randomness that is ever present in life.

Daily Inspiration

I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.

W. C. Fields

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Sophie’s Choice is a haunting movie.  Set in Brooklyn, shortly after World War II, the film is narrated by Stingo, a young man who has moved to Brooklyn from the South.  There he meets and shares a boarding house with Sophie, a Polish immigrant and concentration camp survivor and Nathan, her lover and an American Jew.  The film looks at madness on two levels.  The madness of a group, as represented by Nazi Germany, and the madness of the individual, as represented by Nathan’s mental illness.  Because of Sophie’s personal journey and experience with both Nathan and Nazi Germany, your heart will break over what she endures, what she tries to overcome and her choice.

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I love the story of A Christmas Carol in all its variations.  This version sets the story in Depression-era New England with Henry Winkler as Benedict Slade.  When this made-for-television adaptation was first aired, Henry Winkler was known to everyone as “The Fonz” from the hit television show Happy Days, so this was a departure for him at the time.  If you love the classic story of A Christmas Carol, I think you’d enjoy An American Christmas Carol.

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The Shawshank Redemption is based on a novella by Stephen King.  Tim Robbins plays a banker named Andy, who is sent to Shawshank Prison after being convicted of murdering his wife and her lover.  There he gets to know a fellow prisoner named Red, played by Morgan Freeman.  Prison and the inmates provide the backdrop against which a variety of themes play out in the most uplifting and heartbreaking ways…friendship, survival, despair, faith and hope.  The characters struggle to maintain their humanity in a place and under circumstances that are immensely de-humanizing.  The emotional impact of this movie is pitch perfect and the characters, all of them, will stay with you always.

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Arlington Road is a riveting thriller that keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat until the very end of the movie.  Jeff Bridges plays Michael Faraday,  a professor of American History who teaches courses on terrorism.  Michael’s wife, an FBI agent, was killed in a botched raid.  Now, a single father living in the suburbs, he becomes friends with his next door neighbor after saving the man’s son’s life after an accident.  It doesn’t take long before Michael starts noticing things that don’t seem right and his paranoia starts to build.  What follows is a complex movie that keeps you locked in its grip from beginning to end.

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Factory Girl is a fictionalized look at the life and times of Edie Sedgwick.  Edie was one of Andy Warhol’s superstars, a group of personalities assembled and promoted by Andy Warhol during the 1960s and 1970s.  The superstars appeared in Warhol’s art and films and accompanied him in his social life.  The title of the movie refers to The Factory which was Andy Warhol’s studio.  The Factory was also the hangout and party place for the superstars.  Factory Girl is a cautionary tale of fragile beauty, youth and a desire to be loved that goes tragically wrong.  Watching it, I was captivated by Edie’s luminous, uneffected personality and was saddened that her life was cut so short…like a beautiful moth that gets too close to a flame.

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Rob Roy is loosely based on the life of the Scottish Highland folk hero, Rob Roy Macgregor.  Set in Scotland in 1713, clan leader Rob Roy Macgregor is forced to borrow money from the Marquis of Montrose to help his clan survive a harsh winter. When a young acquaintance of the Marquis’ plots to steal Macgregor’s repayment and is successful, Macgregor must fight for his honor.  This is a personal tale of an honorable man who must take a stand for what is right at the risk of losing everything.  If you love beautiful Scotland, well-crafted characters. good against evil, honor against treachery and a great sword fight, you’ll enjoy Rob Roy.

Art Every Day Month – Day 25

 Scrapbook Paper Flower

Made using this tutorial from Whimsical World of Laura Bird