I'm taking part in Sunday Stealing , hosted by Bev Sykes, who blogs at Funny the World . This week's  set of questions is called Movie Challenge . 1. Last movie you watched Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker , the final chapter (thank you!) of the series. 2. Last movie you watched in a theater. Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3. Film you’ve always wanted to watch, but haven’t. I can't think of any. 4. Favorite movie soundtrack. I don't have one. 5. Your favorite movie duo. Katharine Hepburn and Gary Grant 6. Movie you like because of its story.  Jane Eyre 7. A film that disappointed you.  Henry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince . That sequel is my favorite of the book series. (Yes, I'm a Snapes fan, thanks of Alan Rickman's portrayal.) But, there wasn't much of the story in the movie.  8. Favorite scene from a movie.  When Calamity Jane (Doris Day) sang "The Windy City" in Calamity Jane . Day danced and sang up and down, alo...

1. I've been working in the yard the past few days. It's getting where I prefer being outdoors. What am I talking about?  I've always rather be outside. It was when I was living in San Francisco that I got used to being indoors. After all, I can walk around without shoes. 2. Speaking of being barefoot. Last night we watched Sayonara , starring Marlon Brando, a 1957 film based in Japan about the prejudice against interracial relationships, in particular, marriage (Heavens to Murgatroyd) between American military men and Japanese women. There was also a hint of lust between a Japanese man and an American woman, which probably drew both an aghast! and a titillated hmmm from the audience.  3. There's a similar theme in the musical South Pacific . In one scene, the American officer, who's in love with an island girl, and the American Army nurse, who's horrified the deceased wife of the man she loves was an island woman, commiserate about having to foll...

Day's End.  That was how it looked yesterday at sunset.  Disaster Rose.  What do you think of that for a protagonist's nickname? David.  I've always liked that name. Solid, cheerful, thoughtful. Dave. Davey.  The Husband's surname means son of David.  Debonair.  Cary Grant. George Clooney. The Husband. Humor is part of my definition of debonair. Dig it.   Can you dig it? Hands, please, who said this once upon a time, with a straight face. I do like to dig in the yard, and I do a decent job of digging, I like to think. Meet John Doe.   Recently the Husband and I watched Meet John Doe , a 1941 Frank Capra film starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck with Walter Brennan. Good trembles into arms of Evil so it may survive, but eventually Good realizes it is not Evil and scrambles back onto the path of light. The name John Doe doesn't make sense to me. I understand that it refers to a male with an unknown identity...

Tulips. Coveted, desired. Fancy-pants flowers. For the longest time, I thought of tulips as extravagant, more money than they were worth. Fragile wings. Closed-mouthed. Cold-hearted. Once upon a time I worked part-time in an office where one spring a co-worker kept a vase of tulips on her desk.  Boringness. Then one day I happened to see a petal drop and noticed how vibrant and rich-colored the inside of the petal was. So amazingly different from its bland outer coat. I became a fan instantly. Everyday I watched the tulips unfold their true exotic and exciting depth of beauty. Tulip Fever (2017) The other day, the Husband and I watched Tulip Fever , a movie set in the 1600s in Amsterdam during the maniacal period of selling and buying tulips as a commodity. With one much-sought after tulip, a poor man could suddenly become rich and marry the love of his life, or at least run away with her should she happen to be married. Being too greedy, pushing the value of that same ...

This post ends my time writing movie reviews on the Missus Lady's blog. At least for now. Maybe I'll do more reviews, now and then. The Missus Lady would like me to do book reviews for some future ABC Wednesday round. I'll think about it. It has been fun being part of this round of ABCW . Purrrrrrrrrrr. The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) Setting: Warsaw, Poland during WWII, 1939 to 1945 This movie is based on the real-life story of the husband and wife caretakers of the Warsaw Zoo, Dr. Jan Zabinski and Antonina Zabinska, during World War II. The couple defied the nasty Nazis by hiding over 300 Jews in the zoo during the war. It is a sad and horrible, yet uplifting, tale. The movie begins with the bombing of Warsaw in September 1939, the start of the war, during which many of the animals died. Dr. Lutz Heck, an actual Nazi commander and a big-time zoologist for Hitler, transfers the best of the surviving animals to German zoos, after convincing the couple that it...

The Missus Lady is at a stage in her life where any story that has a combination of sweetness, magnificence, and wonder gets her crying. She was tearing up as we watched the preview of today's movie to recall what it was all about. Oh, my Missus Lady, purrrrrrrrrr . The Young and Prodigious T. S. Spivet (2013) Setting: Montana T. S. Spivet is an amazingly brilliant 10-year old boy who is into science. He lives on a ranch in Montana with his mother, an entomologist, his dad, a cowboy, his teenage sister, who wants to be Miss America one day, and Layton, his twin brother. T. S. is so gifted that the Smithsonian Institute wants to give him an award in Washington D.C. for his invention of a perpetual motion machine. Of course the institution think that T. S. is an adult and of course his family members are so self-absorbed that they don't notice when T. S. leaves the house one night. How does T. S. get to Washington D.C.? Who helps him on his quest? When the museum peop...

Today's movie was the first feature film ever shot in Saudi Arabia and directed by a Saudi woman. Purrrrrrrr- ty cool. It's an honest story about a young girl wanting things that she can't have because she is a girl. But, that doesn't stop her. The Missus Lady says she knows what that was like. She says the Mama knew it, too, and even more. The Mama loved to climb trees when she was a kid. One day, when she was 12 years old, an older brother found her climbing up a coconut tree. When she came down, her brother beat her up, saying "Shame on you! You are too old to climb trees."  Mewr. She never said if she ever stopped. Wadjda  (2012) Setting: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Wadjda is a 10 year-old girl who lives with her mother in the suburbs. Her father lives there part-time it seems and now that Wadjda's mother can no longer bear children, he is thinking of taking a second wife.  Will he? If he does, what will happen to Wadjda and her mother? Wadjda is...

The Missus Lady told me that Groundhog Day solidified her as a Bill Murray fan. She stops and watches the movie until the next commercial anytime she comes across it on the TV. Myself, I have yet to watch the movie all the way through. Meeew. Some people may think Bill Murray plays himself in every role. We don't think so. Playing a character loose as a goose is a talent and skill. Both the Missus Lady and I like Bill Murray in Rock the Kasbah, The Monuments Man, The Man Who Knew Too Little, Larger than Life, Olive Kitteridge, Hyde Park on Hudson, and today's movie. St. Vincent   (2014) Setting: Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn Vincent, played by Bill Murray, is an ornery old soul who gambles, drinks, smokes, and lives alone. He regularly visits his wife in a nursing facility. She has Alzheimer's and stopped knowing Vincent years ago. One day Maggie (performed by Melissa McCarthy) and her young son Oliver enter Vincent's life. Their first encounter is Vincent findi...

I'm with the Missus Lady. I can't decide which movie not to talk about. So, this week you get two thoughtful kindly hearted stories. Both are British films. The Humans really ought to visit the British Isles one day. This Beautiful Fantastic (2017) Setting: A British city   Some people classify this story as a modern fairy tale. I don't know why. Isn't it possible for a timid soul to dream possibilities for herself, fall in love with an unlikely person, become almost like a daughter to a grumpy neighbor, and grow a beautiful garden seemingly overnight? This is definitely a feel good movie. It's also a tearful one for sentimentals like Missus Lady. Hero Man looked quite satisfied with the ending, too. Their Finest    (2017)   Setting: London, 1940 World War II Catrin is hired by the Ministry of Information to provide a woman's point of view on propaganda films in production. Proving herself to be a decent script writer, she is assigned to work on the next f...

Something good, happy, nice, and wonderful is developing in our home. I can't put my finger on it. Just feels like it. Purrrrrrr. Miss Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing and Charm School (2005) Setting: Any bucolic town USA (movie was shot in the Pasadena and Glendale area) Frank (played by Robert Carlyle) is a grieving widower who gets passed on a dangerous mountainous road by happy guy Steve (performed by John Goodman). Minutes later Frank catches up to Steve who somehow crashed on a wide portion of the road. Frank keeps Steve talking while waiting for the ambulance and during the ambulance ride. Steve tells him about being a kid in love with Lisa and taking ballroom dance classes from Miss Hotchkiss. Young Steve and Lisa promised each other that they would meet on a certain day in the distant future at Miss Hotchkiss' school, which was where adult Steve had been heading. Steve got Frank to promise to go to the school and tell Lisa that he tried to get there. Frank does. Before h...

Today's movie is about "So what that I'm an old person and screw you for thinking so." Pause. "I'm doing it anyway." My Humans are those kind of people. At least I think so and they think so. That's all that counts. Purrrrrrrr. Redwood Highway (2013) Setting: Oregon Marie lives in a retirement facility in southern Oregon. She has been invited to her granddaughter's wedding on the Oregon coast about 80 miles away. Because Marie is a difficult woman, meaning she and her kids have major friction, she can't get a ride there. So what else can the old coot do but sneak out one morning with her backpack and fishing pole and start walking up the Redwood Highway. Road trip! Is Marie a experienced hiker? What does her family do when they find out she's gone from the facility? Does Marie's orneriness get ironed out by the people she meets on the way? Does she meet someone who may be her true love? What caused her to be such an unh...

No movie review from me today. But, here's a photo of purrrrrrrrrrrrty me taking a snoozer of a stretch .  See ya next week with a movie . Ciao. A Note from Su-sieee! Mac Molly the Cat refused to write about today's selection, A New Kind of Love , a 1963 silly comedy romp starring the sparkly and sparking duo of Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. She said, "How can I write about the movie, Missus Lady, when I've never seen it? Also, it's not on Netflix." Always the logical cat, Missy Molly is, by golly. Molly gave me her glare of a stare then a turn of her back when I said she could paraphrase what I told her about the movie. That Girl! She didn't care that it was one of my favorite movies from my teenage years, making the circuits of the day, evening, and late Saturday night movie stations. It was a funny, sexy, actually quite layered, love story, but one I'd probably cringe at a lot if I were to see it for the first time today. A Ne...

This week's movie selection is an old one starring Timothy Bottoms and a young fetching Dame Maggie Smith.  Some film guys categorize the movie as a comedy-drama, while others call it a bittersweet romantic comedy. Mister Hero Man says that often a movie is considered a comedy because a drama just happens to have natural funny elements to it. I suppose. But isn't that the life of humans anyway? Missus Lady says that this movie is in the same vein as Harold and Maude , which was released two years prior to this one, except the story of love is more obvious between a woman twice the age of a young man. Missus Lady says she doesn't know how she missed this movie when it first came out. Maybe it had a small run because of the theme. I don't know why many people are askance at a May–December relationship. The Missus Lady would know. The First, and Late, Husband was twice her age. People had asked if the First, and Late, Husband was someone famous or if she (not knowing ...

The Missus Lady knew right away what movie she wanted me to review for the letter H. Mewwww. The movie is labeled a romantic comedy. Considering the subject matter, it's the best way to go.  Female hysteria.  Both Missus Lady and Hero Man had no idea that was a medical thing, and a very common diagnosis at that. Treatment was manual stimulation by a professional physician. I kid you not. Purrrrrrrr. The other night Missus Lady was wondering if there was a connection between hysteria and hysterectomy. It turns out yeah. The root hystera comes from the Greek, meaning of the womb . According to the Wikipedia article about female hysteria, the condition was known way back in ancient Greece times. Some Greek eggheads thought that a woman's womb wandered about her body, I suppose like a snake, causing all kinds of havoc. What's interesting is that female hysteria stopped being a major complaint in the 1900s.  Could it be because of a certain invention? Let me assure...

Hero Man and Missus Lady watched two bank heist movies recently.  I thought that was unusual because they don't normally like that kind of movie. But, then they weren't the usual slick, devilish robbery films with young or younger folks. No. The main characters are in their 70s.  Mewwwwwwww. One movie was made in England, while the other was based in the United States. The story lines are similar.  The seniors are upstanding citizens who manage to live comfortably on their limited income. Then, pow! their former companies announce that they are doing poorly so they must decrease or stop the monthly current pensions. Mewwwwwww. Golden Years (2016) Setting: Southwest England (filming was done in Bristol and the Cotswolds) Arthur and Martha become criminals by accident. Arthur is standing by the bank door when the armored car guard bumps into Arthur and is knocked out cold. The locked satchel full of money pops out of the truck. Arthur's reaction: Take the money ...

Hello ABC Wednesday visitors!  We're six weeks into the alphabet, so if this is your first time to the blog, welcome. My name is Molly the Cat, and I'm writing movie reviews for this ABCW round. The Missus Lady, one of my humans and the writer of this blog, is letting me try out my words. Nice of her, don't you think? Missus Lady usually has two or three choices for me to pick from. Today's pick is one that the Missus Lady saw more than several years ago, way before my time. I chose it anyway because the Missus Lady liked it so much, and it introduced her to Gerard Butler. Purrrrrrr. Dear Frankie (2004) Setting: Greenock, Scotland This is a story about a mother who loves her young son so much that she is willing to lie about his father. Nine-year-old Frankie, his mom, Lizzie, and grandmother are constantly moving because they are running away from Frankie's abusive dad. But, Frankie doesn't know that his dad is a bad dude or that they're avo...

Purrrrrrr. I had a great day yesterday. The Missus Lady and Hero Man said it was my birthday and that I was seven (seven!) years old. I got extra petting, extra cooing, and extra time outside. I also caught a bird which I brought into the house. The Humans had no idea I found it until almost dinner time. Purrrrrrrr. In honor of my bird day, I picked this movie for you this week. The Eagle Huntress (2016)   Setting: The plains of Mongolia This is a docu mentary about A isholpan, a 1 3 year old nomad girl, whose father is teaching her to be a golden eagle hunter. That is a very cherished profession in their culture, which is passed on from one generation to the next. O nly the males can bec o me eagle hunters, because, as it usually goes, females do not have what it takes to handle eagles while galloping on horses . Aisholpan's father, having no sons, was not going to let his profession die with him. Good for him! From the start of her training, A isholpan shows that s...

Gidget . The Flying Nun . Sybil . Norma Rae . Smokey and the Bandit . Murphy's Romance . Punchline . Where the Heart Is . T hose are some of the TV shows and movies that starred, says Missus Lady, the spunky, good-hearted, awesomely talented, versatile, delightful Sally Field. They were all before my time. But, not this movie I'm talking about today.  I love Sally Field. She's a cutie, a darling, and a sweetheart . Like me. Purrrrrrrrr. Hello, My Name is Doris   (2016) Setting: New York City   Doris is a 60-something single, never-been-married, woman who had been living with her mother for maybe most, if not all, of her life. The story opens with us learning that Doris's mom recently passed away and being encouraged by her brother, and indecently urged by the brother's wife, to downsize their mother's belongings, which Doris ignores. Good for her! Doris has flights of fancy, s o she sometimes gets caught looking weird and goofy. Doris has a crush on John...

Missus Lady can watch a great romance story over and over. And over again. I don't know how many times she has watched the different versions of Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre . She always stops at Two Weeks Notice , with Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant , when she's channel surfing and Hero Man is not sitting next to her. If he is, she grabs for the remote and flips to the movie during commercials. Hero Man is fine with watching any movie once. But, he might think differently about this week's movie pick that they both enjoyed. It's another British film, by the way. Cuban Fury (2014) Settings: Office and dance floor, somewhere in England. Bruce is 39 years old, shy, overweight, and unhappy, trudging from home to work to home day after day. At work he is hounded by his disgusting colleague Drew . If Bruce ever fought back, he w ould win .  Meeeeewwwwww! Bruce used to be full of energy and spirit when he was a youngster. He was in fact a junior salsa dan...

The Humans watch a lot of British black comedies because the Missus Lady loves the quick, dry wit of the British writers. They don't even have to try to be funny, she says.  I don't know what she means. Purrrrrrr. I hear no complaints from the Hero Man so he must think the same way. The Legend of Barney Thomson (2015)   Setting: In and around Glasgow The Missus Lady says this film is wonderfully absurd. The main character is meek, bland barber Barney Thomson who has no customer service skills, so over the years he got pushed further into a corner where no customer wants to sit. One evening after the barber shop closes, Barney and the manager have a heart to heart about woeful Barney that ends in an inadvertent push and shove, the manager dead, and a finally living large Barney. It was an accident so why didn't Barney quipppp just say so instead of hiding the body? Hero Man says if that was the case, there would be no movie. Because the shop is shorthanded, Ba...