"Hamlet" (1996) Soundtrack Guest Review Up AND a Giveaway Reminder

I've got a review of Patrick Doyle's soundtrack for Hamlet (1996) up here at J and J Productions today.  And, as I mention in that post, I am giving away a copy of said soundtrack here on my book blog, as well as DVDs of two different productions of Hamlet and some Hamlet stickers.  So if you haven't done so already, do check out both my soundtrack review and my Hamlet giveaway!  The giveaway is world-wide and open through next Monday, January 4th.

My Guest Post About "The Muppet Christmas Carol" (1992)

I've written a brief review of The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) for James the Movie Reviewer's blog, and you can read it here.  It's one of my favorite adaptations of Charles Dickens' influential story, the other being Patrick Stewart's 1999 adaptation.

"In the Heart of the Sea" (2015)

This movie was supposed to come out way back in like March, and I really wish it had.  Not only because I had to wait an extra 9 months for it, but because honestly, whose bright idea was it to have this open the weekend before Star Wars:  The Force Awakens?  What even?  People who only see a movie every now and then were going to go to SW:TFA.  People who like to see lots of movies but are very busy at Christmastime were going to go see SW:TFA.  People who only go to movies once in a blue moon but felt like going to see a movie this month were going to see SW:TFA.  Which means the only people who would make the effort to get to the theater to see In the Heart of the Sea would be people who truly wanted to see this particular movie.

People like me.  Because today I dodged around all my fellow Star Wars fans and plunked down my money to see this instead.  (Fear not!  I do intend to see Star Wars, but not until after Christmas.)  Because I have been eagerly anticipating this movie since last December, when I saw one trailer for it and said, "Tall Ships, Chris Hemsworth, Ron Howard, and Moby-Dick?  I AM SO THERE!"

And so there I was.  In a theater the second weekend of In the Heart of the Sea's run, just me and four other people.  I felt very sad for the movie and all those involved because it's really good!  And no one is caring!

People need to care!!!!!!

I'm sure SW:TFA is splendid.  I'm excited to see it.  But this movie is also splendid, and I wish more people were excited about it.  I'm pouting.

Anyway.  I have only seen this once, so my thoughts and understanding of the movie may change after I see it again when it comes to DVD, but from this first viewing, my impression is that this is a movie about the difference between determination and stubbornness.

The movie is framed as an account told to Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) by the last surviving member of a whaler named the Essex, one Tom Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson in the framing, Tom Holland in the story).  Nickerson's experiences aboard the Essex have haunted him all his life, and his wife hopes that by finally confessing the tale, he will be able to live in peace.  Melville is hungry for the truth about a story he's heard for many years and wants to turn into a novel.

So the story begins.  Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth) is successful and well-respected whaler who had been promised captaincy of a ship for his next voyage.  But the owners of the whaling company instead make him first mate under George Pollard (Benjamin Walker), scion of a wealthy whaling family.  It's Pollard's first voyage, and he is bent on proving himself a better seaman and person than Chase by countermanding Chase's sensible orders and imperiling both ship and crew time and again.  The whole situation smacks of Mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty for a while.

Then they find some whales and have some whaling adventures, run out of whales, get desperate, and go sailing off into the Pacific in search of whales despite having been warned about a demonic white whale that haunts those waters like a vengeful ghost.  And then all sorts of bad things happen and people die and it's by turns exciting and scary and suspenseful.  Chase remains determined, and Pollard learns to change from stubborn to determined, and Chase learns that killing animals just because you can is a bad idea, and also there's a lot of ocean.

Throughout the story, we come back to Melville and Nickerson occasionally, seeing the way telling the truth is affecting the elderly seaman.  At first he's angry and antagonistic, then he's annoyed, then he's caught up in his tale, and finally he finds absolution for some of the things he and the others did to survive.  Really, the scenes between them were my favorites, and I can't believe I'm saying that because that's the part Chris Hemsworth and the tall ships aren't in!  But they were superb.  Whishaw's Melville had just the right blend of curiosity and writerly eagerness at first, changing into a sort of horrified fascination, and ending with a confidence that he had found what he needed.

But anyway.  Good movie.  I love the soundtrack and will probably end up buying it.  Oh!  And Joseph Mawle was in it too!  I love him as Captain Harville in the 2007 Persuasion, so it was awesome to see him aboard a ship, and he had a really nice character.

Also, Chris Hemsworth was wonderful.  Even more wonderful than I'd hoped.  Just so you know.

Is this movie family-friendly?  Um, not for youngsters cuz hello, it's really intense and has some scary stuff too.  Also some old-fashioned cursing sprinkled throughout, including taking God's name in vain.

Once I've seen it again in a few months, I think I will have some interesting thoughts on comparing it to director Ron Howard's other wonderful movie about men surviving an unexpectedly terrifying voyage, Apollo 13 (1995), but for now... if you like Tall Ships, Chris Hemsworth, Ron Howard, or Moby-Dick, please brave the Star Wars crowds and go see this.

Two Merry(?) Little Christmases: December Inkling Explorations Link-Up

This month's Inkling Explorations subject is "A Christmastide Movie Scene."  As soon as I read that, I knew I wanted to share a scene from The Monuments Men (2014).  You can watch the whole scene here on YouTube, but I'm going to describe it for you here for those who don't want to watch it without having seen the movie, or who have small children in the room (part of it involves some blood).

So The Monuments Men is about a bunch of Allies who try to recover all kinds of artwork that the Nazis have been stealing and hoarding, which is based on something that actually happened during WWII.  Throughout the first half of the film, Campbell (Bill Murray) and Savitz (Bob Balaban) have been very antagonistic toward each other.  Savitz thinks Campbell is an uncultured swine, and Campbell thinks Savitz is a pretentious snob.  But they have to share a tent in camp, and they keep getting sent out on assignments together even though everyone knows they dislike each other.

In this scene, Campbell and Savitz have gotten Christmas packages from their families.

Campbell's is full of snapshots and little homemade gifts.

Savitz has received tasty treats that he clearly has no intention of sharing.

Campbell also gets a record, a message his family has sent him that presumably holds Christmas greetings.  (I'm instantly reminded of one of my favorite Combat! episodes, "Just for the Record," which involves Sgt. Saunders [Vic Morrow] receiving a similar record and risking his life to hear it.)

Campbell makes a joke about having to confiscate a phonograph so he can hear it, sets the record aside, and leaves to take a shower.

And while he's in the shower, over the loudspeaker comes the voice of his daughter.  Campbell looks up in wonder as he hears his daughter and grandchildren wish him a merry Christmas.  He turns off the shower and just stands there, listening.

(By this point in the movie, I have tears running down my cheeks.  I'm actually crying right now as I type this up.)  He's got no idea how this miracle has come about.

But we, the audience, know.  Savitz has taken the record of this man he professes to dislike, commandeered the camp loudspeaker system, and is playing the record so that Campbell will get to hear these messages from home.

And then Campbell's daughter begins to sing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

This scene has been intercutting with the interior of an aid station, where two other characters bring a wounded soldier they found by the road.

The song continues as a doctor examines the soldier, realizes he's dying, and orders morphine for him to ease his final moments.

Nobody here is having a merry Christmas.  And yet, Christmas goes on whether people are merry or not, doesn't it?  Because in the end, Christmas isn't about merriment.  It's about the pain of childbirth, the miraculous incarnation of God as a tiny child, and the wonder of an undeserved gift not for one person, but for all mankind.

Now, I said in my title that this is about TWO merry (or actually not-so-merry) Christmases.  Because the song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" debuted in the movie Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), where big sister Esther (Judy Garland) sang it to her littlest sister Tootie (Margaret O'Brien) to try to cheer her up.  You see, their father has decreed that the family will be moving to New York City after Christmas, and the whole family is very sad and upset about this.  So although Esther is singing about light hearts, their troubles are definitely not out of sight.  She says that "through the years, we all will be together," but she's contemplating staying behind in St. Louis, so she knows that much of what she sings in this song might not come true.  It's also a very sad scene, and I'm going to share it here.

Meet Me in St. Louis is one of my daughters' favorite movies, and we watch it regularly.  (And yes, we nicknamed my littlest mouse "Tootie" after Margaret O'Brien's character).  If you haven't seen it, I can wholeheartedly recommend it as a family-friendly delight.  The Monuments Men is also one of my personal favorites, but it's not for younger viewers.  You can read my full review of it here.

Despite the melancholy of these two scenes I've shared here, both of these movies are actually very uplifting and end happily!  And despite the fact that I've chosen to share two Christmas scenes that make me cry, I actually love Christmas and am generally in a happy, bouncy mood from Thanksgiving on.  Honest!

Don't forget to visit Sharing the Journey to read other entries to this month's link-up!  Most of them probably don't involve a blogger crying while she types...

Celebrate 2016 with a Cinderella Party!

Today, Heidi has announced that she will be hosting a Cinderella blog party and blogathon beginning January 4!  Read her official announcement here, where you can grab spiffy blog buttons and sign up for the blogathon, etc.  I plan to review the 1914 silent film Cinderella that stars Mary Pickford, and I'm going to be hosting a giveaway too :-D  Very exciting, eh?

How'd I Do With My Autumn To-Do List?

I know that technically winter doesn't start until December 21st, but I always feel like winter begins December 1st, so I'm ending this here.

Although my summer to-do list was such a great motivator, I was not as successful with my autumn list.  I blame this on teaching more school in the fall, plus Cowboy being gone on a lot of work-related trips.  When he's gone a week at a time, I tend to just put my head down and doggedly survive each day until he returns.  And between the beginning of September and now, he's been gone Five Weeks, though not all at once, thank the Lord.  I did get some movies watched in the evenings while he was gone, so those goals got met, but the reading, not so much.  Here are my results:

~ Transfer my languishing lavender plants to the ground.  Fail.  They're stuck in their pots until spring again.  Totally ran out of time because Cowboy wasn't around so often.

~ Read 3 books about Robin Hood.  Fail.  I tried reading Dauntless by Dina L. Sleiman, but it was only tangentially related to Robin Hood, in that he got mentioned a couple times, and after a hundred pages I realized I didn't actually care about any of the characters, so I took it back to the library.  I have pretty well failed my quest to read 6 Robin Hood books in one year, though I did watch 4 movies about him.

~ Read 3 other books from my TBR shelves.  Fail.  I only read Luther and Katharina by Jody Hedlund.  I did re-read a couple of books, but didn't finish any new ones.

~ Read 3 other books from the library.  Fail.  Didn't even read one.  Sniffle.  This was not a good autumn for books.

~ Watch the Ioan Gruffudd version of Great Expectations.  Fail.

~ Watch 5 other movies from my TBW shelves.  Check!  I watched Dear Heart (1964), Zorro (1974), The Bourne Identity (1988), Westward the Women (1951), and Gunless (2010).

~ Watch the Patrick Stewart version of North & South.  Fail.  I have it on hold at the library, but it has yet to arrive.

~ Finish rewriting my current WIP, "The Rose-Covered Cabin," and begin editing it.  Check!  In fact, I've nearly finished editing it, and will be submitting it soon.

~ Make mushroom soup from the recipe in An Unexpected Cookbook.  Check!  It was delicious.  Here it is, compared with the picture in the book:

~ Make Mr. Thornton Cupcakes.  Fail. 

~ Make one more trip to the local ice cream spot before it closes for the winter.  Fail.  Oh well, I'm sure we'll be back many times next year.

~ Take my kids to the state park forest.  Check!  In fact, we got there twice.

~ Make leaf crafts using all the leaves we collected last year and never used.  Sort-of check.  We tried to decorate candle holders using our pressed leaves from last year and Mod Podge, but the pressed leaves held their shape too well!  So we ended up running out into our back yard and collecting new leaves for that project, which turned out rather well:

(They have battery-operated tea lights in them, so totally kid-safe!)

~ Finish sewing my autumnal layered skirt.  Check!  And here it is:

~ Make jumpers for my daughters from the fabric they've chosen.  Check!  I think that's the first thing on this list I finished.

So a few of these are going on my Winter To-Do List, which I will draw up shortly.  I did better at finishing projects this fall than at reading books, I guess.  Not all bad!  Just a little unusual, for me.

Guest Soundtrack Post Up: "The Monuments Men" (2014)

This week, I've posted about the music from the lovely WWII movie The Monuments Men (2014).  You can read about it here on J & J Productions.

I really wish I had seen this in the theaters.  But at least I can watch my DVD copy over and over!  I reviewed the movie here a while back, if you'd like to see what I thought of it as well.

The Awesome Food Award

Heidi tagged me with this here back in October, and Miss March tagged me with it here this week, so I guess I ought to go ahead and do this tag at last, huh?  I'm going to answer both sets of their questions in one post here :-)  Thank you, ladies!  I'm sorry it's taken me a while to answer.

The Rules: 

1. Thank the person who nominated you, as well as link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 10 questions provided.
3. Come up with 10 more questions that relate to food.
4. Nominate at least 5 people.
5. Let those people know they've been nominated.


Heidi's Questions:

1. Your thoughts on cheese? 

I am a firm fan of cheese.  I really miss living in Wisconsin, where we were surrounded by delicious, inexpensive cheese.  Here, we have access to lots of cheese at our grocery store, but much of it is pretty spendy.  What really cracks me up is that in the "imported cheeses" section, they sell Carr Valley Cheese from Wisconsin -- we used to live about half an hour from one of their factories, and could buy cheese directly from there, but now we have to pay twice as much because it's "imported."

2. Favorite pizza? 

Pepperoni Lover's from Pizza Hut.  Alas, now that I no longer have a gall bladder, my system has trouble handling that much awesomeness, so I can only eat one slice.  But at least I can still eat it!

3. Have you always had a “traditional” dinner (i.e. turkey and all the fixings) on Thanksgiving?

Usually.  This year and last year, we've been at Colonial Williamsburg, but we had turkey and everything at a restaurant here.  The two years prior, we had Thanksgiving with a bunch of Cowboy's relatives.  When we lived in Connecticut, it was just our family, but we still did turkey and stuffing and cranberries and rolls and pie, and usually Green Bean Casserole.

In Wisconsin, we had all sorts of Cowboy's relatives to gather with, and I often got TWO turkey dinners because I worked 3rd shift at Walmart, so we'd get up early and go eat with Cowboy's relatives, then I'd go to work and they'd have a turkey dinner provided for us in our break room.  Thanksgiving Night was always Blitz Night at Walmart because we'd be rolling out all the stuff for Black Friday and getting the store as perfect-looking as possible so that people could trash it the next morning.  Everyone had to work Blitz Night, except one year I asked off for that week waaaaaaaaaay back in like April when the supervisors didn't notice that was Thanksgiving week and approved it, and then Cowboy and I went to Myrtle Beach, SC, with my parents and my grandma.  That was quite fun!  I think that year we might have had seafood instead of turkey, to be honest.

Before that, I went to friends' houses during college for Thanksgiving break because I went to college in Minnesota, and it wasn't practical to go all the way home to North Carolina for a 4-day weekend.  So I went to several different places over those years, but we always had that big turkey dinner thing going on.

Before college, we often spent Thanksgiving with some dear friends of ours who attend the church where my dad is pastor.  They would just add us into the mix of their family.  I have good memories of playing with some of the younger kids to keep them out of the way while the ladies upstairs finished up the feast, and then the men would all come in from deer hunting and if one of them had bagged a deer already there would be a lot of excitement.

Before North Carolina, we lived in Michigan, and we usually spent Thanksgiving by ourselves, other than going to church.  Mom would make a big spread, though.  I especially looked forward to the cranberry relish and crescent rolls, and especially the pumpkin pie :-9

4. Favorite Thanksgiving dish to prepare? 

Pumpkin pie!  It's so easy, so fun to see it all blend and cream together, and... pumpkin is my favorite kind of pie!

(From our trip to Williamsburg last year)

5. Your favorite breakfast? 

Hot, buttered cranberry English muffins.  I only get those around Christmas-time, though.  Otherwise, hot, buttered toast :-9

6. Favorite kind of bread (i.e. whole wheat, French, sourdough, cinnamon-raisin, etc.)

Our grocery store sells "Marco Polo" bread that is dusted with rice flour -- it's very crusty outside, and then oh-so-soft inside.

(Source)

Aside from that, I'm perilously fond of pumpernickel.

7. Favorite vegetable? 

Spinach.  I especially love to cook up some fresh spinach in just a smidgen of olive oil with a generous sprinkling of garlic salt.

8. Do you like sweet or sour? 

Both!  Sweet more than sour, though.

9. Most unusual/unexpected ethnic dish you’ve ever had? 

When I visited Ukraine many years ago, I had beef tongue in smetana, which is a kind of ultra-yummy sour cream.  It was wonderful!  The tongue was firm, yet easy to chew, and I fell in love with smetana for sure.  From then on out, I tried to get as many dishes with smetana as I could whenever we ate out during that trip.

Also on that trip, I ate Kasha, which is boiled buckwheat, and which I hated.  And I had a hot dog with shredded carrots on it, which was okay.  And many other interesting foods.  Vereniki, which is dumpling-like pockets filled with cheese or fruit or meat or veggies.  Borshch, of course -- and borshch with smetana is delicious!  I think the oddest thing I had was mushroom-flavored potato chips.

10. Hamburgers or hotdogs?

It is hard to beat a really good burger, though I do enjoy hot dogs too, especially grilled.  But a good, juicy burger with cheese, ketchup, mayo, pickles, lettuce, slaw, and tomatoes -- I'd have a hard time finding reasons to resist that.

(Source)

Miss March's questions:

1. Which do you prefer, salad or bread? 

Bread :-9

2. As a child, were you a picky eater or did you like to try new things? 

Kind of both?  I would try new things if they looked like I would like them, I think.

3. What was one meal you abhorred as a kid? 

Porcupine Meatballs.  Blech!  I still don't like them.  They're meatballs with rice in them, and the rice gets weirdly crunchy when they're baked.

4. Do you prefer cooking or baking? 

Baking.  I especially love to bake cookies!

(Source)

5. Are you the sort of person who always has your meals planned out, or do you tend to toss things together at the last minute? (Or if you don't have your own home yet, how do you imagine you would be?) 

Well, usually Cowboy makes the shopping list.  He picks out a week's-worth of recipes based on what's in season and if anyone's had a request, and so on.  He selects tried-and-true recipes for me to make during the week, and new ones for him to try on the weekend.  Then we buy all the ingredients and we're set for the week.  We've been doing things that way since we were first married because our first year, I was working and he was still in college, so he'd be done with classes a couple hours before I was done with work, and he'd get the shopping list ready so I could just pick him up and we'd head to the store.

6. What is one of the worst (or most hilarious) food-making blunders you've ever made? 

Well, I memorably put baking soda instead of baking powder in a batch of cornbread the first time I ever made it, back when I was a teen.  Even our dog wouldn't eat it.

7. Would you rather have steak or ice cream (or both together, like Pollyanna)?

Um, depends on the flavor of ice cream and how the steak was cooked.  If it was my dad grilling the steak, I'd go with steak.  If it was chocolate-chocolate chunk ice cream from Kilwin's, which I haven't had in many years, then I'd go with ice cream.

8. What is your favorite kind of cake? 

Chocolate.  The more chocolatey, the better!

9. Do you eat combinations of food that other people think strange? (For example: my little brother once dipped his cookie in ketchup. Yeah, that was a bit over the top...yours definitely doesn't have to be that crazy. ;)) 

I really like to dip sausages in chocolate syrup.  Don't do it anymore because I don't want my kids to demand chocolate syrup every time we have sausage, but I do love that flavor combo.

10. What is your favorite meal of the day?

Hmm.  Probably supper, because that's when Cowboy is home.

(Source)

My Ten Questions:

1.  Would you like condensed milk or honey on your bread?  (Or both, but never mind the bread, like Pooh?)
2.  What do you like putting on oatmeal?
3.  Are there any foods you used to dislike, but now like?
4.  Are there any foods you used to like, but now dislike?
5.  Do you have certain foods you only eat around Christmastime?
6.  Do you have any food allergies/intolerances?
7.  What is your favorite restaurant?
8.  Who is the best cook in your family?
9.  Do you put anything interesting in hot chocolate?  (I like chili powder in mine, for instance.)
10.  Do you have a favorite cookbook?

I nominate:

DKoren

Joanna

Natalie

Olivia

Patti

Play if you want to!

Three Pinterest Story Boards

BLAST IT!  I had this post all written up yesterday, and then I never actually hit "publish" for some unfathomable reason.  So here, one day late, is my post for Elisabeth Grace Foley's Pinterest Storyboard Party!  Today I'll be sharing three boards I've made, one for each novel or story I've got going right now.  Be sure to check out the party for Elisabeth's story boards, and links to other people's too.  (EDIT:  She's leaving the link-up open for a whole week now, so if you want to participate too, you still can!)

At first, when I saw people making inspiration boards for their WIPs on Pinterest, I was kind of amused in an eyebrow-cocked way.  Was this really helpful?  Was it a good way to procrastinate?  Did it really provide inspiration?  I admit I was skeptical. 

Then I decided to create this board for my short story "The Rose-Covered Cabin" when I shared the news that I'll be submitting it to the Five Magic Spindles contest.  I'd actually pinned a bunch of stuff to a secret board that was helpful for my story -- things about the so-called "walking wheel" or "great wheel" spinning wheels and so on.  So I tossed that all onto a new board, and added shots of the various actors I'd "cast" in the story.  And guess what?  It was fun!

Follow Rachel's board The Rose-Covered Cabin on Pinterest.

But I still didn't start making any new boards for new writing projects, not until Elisabeth announced this party.  Then I was like, "Well, I shared the board for RCC already... I should make one for my new story!"  So I did.  I hereby unveil my board for Patchwork Autumn, a novel that grew in my head over the course of little more than a week and which I've only just started writing.  But I'm already loving how it mixes the Appalachian mountains with the Wild West -- it's sweet and tangy and salty and smooth all at once.

Follow Rachel's board "Patchwork Autumn" on Pinterest.

And then the other day, I was having so much fun adding to the PA album that I just went ahead and created a board for my last novel, Fickle Creek, because I could.  That's my first-ever YA novel, and my first western in a long while -- I started writing it way back in 2012, and am in the slow process of revising it now.

Follow Rachel's board "Fickle Creek" on Pinterest. 

So now you've seen all three of my "inspiration boards."  I do add to/tweak them from time to time.  But I don't use them for inspiration so much as for gathering and storing links and information, and for looking back at fondly after I've finished a story and saying, "Oh, yes, wasn't that fun?"

I'm pretty bummed I forgot to post this yesterday.  I blame it on baking an apple pie.  Does things to one's brain, pie-baking does.

"Anastasia" Soundtrack Guest Post

Good morning!  My review of the Anastasia (1997) soundtrack is now up over at J and J Productions.  Listening to this album always takes me back to my college years, especially winter in Minnesota with lots of wonderful snow outside and lots of friends inside.  Happy times!

My Ten Favorite Maureen O'Hara Movies

To honor Maureen O'Hara after her recent passing, I'm sharing a list of my ten favorite films that she starred in.  Comedies, westerns, swashbucklers, dramas -- she could handle them all.

1.  The Parent Trap (1961)

Twin sisters (Hayley Mills as both) with divorced parents (Maureen O'Hara and Brian Kieth) scheme to bring their parents back together.  It's been one of my favorite movies since I was a teen.

2.  The Rare Breed (1966)

A British widow (Maureen O'Hara) and her daughter (Juliet Mills) accompany the prize bull they've sold on its way to its new owner (Brian Keith) with the help of a determined cowhand (James Stewart).  I've seen this so often, the characters all feel like dear old friends.

3.  The Black Swan (1942)

Captain Jamie Waring (Tyrone Power) renounces piracy, falls in love with a fiery noblewoman (Maureen O'Hara), and dashes about having swashbuckling adventures.  A perfectly delightful movie.

4.  Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962)

Roger Hobbs (James Stewart) and his wife Peggy (Maureen O'Hara) vacation with their family in a decidedly eccentric house, encountering many gently comic adventures. This is one of those movies I quote all the time in my head.

5.  The Quiet Man (1952)

An American ex-prizefighter (John Wayne) moves to Ireland and marries a feisty native (Maureen O'Hara) who believes he is a coward and refuses to live with him as man and wife until he proves her wrong.  A dramatic and beautiful movie.

6.  Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

A skeptical little girl (Natalie Wood) and her busy single mother (Maureen O'Hara) meet a man named Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) who tries to convince them he's the real Santa Claus.  Heartwarming.

7.  McLintock! (1963)

A rich rancher (John Wayne) battles his estranged wife (Maureen O'Hara), daughter, land-grabbing bad guys, and various other adversaries.  Almost a western version of The Taming of the Shrew.

8.  The Wings of Eagles (1957)

The true story of a Navy pilot (John Wayne) who is paralyzed after an accident, and regains the ability to move with the help of his best friend (Dan Dailey) and wife (Maureen O'Hara).  Such an inspiring movie!

9.  Spencer's Mountain (1963)

A hardworking man (Henry Fonda) has to decide if he should build his wife (Maureen O'Hara) the home he's promised her for years or send his son (James MacArthur) to college.  Based on the novel by Earl Hamner, Jr. that also inspired the TV show The Waltons a few years later.

10.  Big Jake (1971)

A rich rancher (John Wayne) returns to his home after years of roaming when his estranged wife (Maureen O'Hara) telegraphs him that their grandson (Ethan Wayne) has been kidnapped.  The more modern setting (1909, with cars and motorcycles) saddens me in many ways, but it's a solid story and has lots of familiar faces.

I'll Be Joining the Pinterest Storyboard Party -- Will You?

Elisabeth Grace Foley has announced on her blog, The Second Sentence, that she is going to hold a Pinterest Storyboard Party next Thursday, November 19.  One week from today!  I'll for sure be sharing my board for "The Rose-Covered Cottage," the story I'm submitting to the Five Magic Spindles contest.  It's changed a little since I previously shared it, which I'll talk about next week.

I might also share the board I'm making for a story/novella/novel that has landed in my brain and gelled over the last couple of weeks.  I know I've made a poor showing in NaNoWriMo this year -- I had great intentions of writing at least 25,000 words and doing a half-Nano with a novel I've had in my head for two years, Son of a Gunfighter.  But then I frittered away my evenings at my parents' house by watching episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. with my mom, got ambushed by this new story idea, and have had to spend my writing time doing edits on "The Rose-Covered Cabin" since it has an actual deadline.  Sorry, Nano!  Next year.

Anyway, again, details on the Pinterest Story Party are here.  If you're a writer and make storyboards on Pinterest, I hope you join the fun!

"The Untouchables" Soundtrack Guest Post

I've got another post up here today on James the Movie Reviewer's blog.  This time, I'm spotlighting Ennio Morricone's unbeatable soundtrack for The Untouchables (1987).  I remember getting this soundtrack as a gift while in college and listening to it allllllll the time while studying.  And yet, I'm not tired of it like I am of many other albums I over-repeated back then.  Good, good stuff.

The Sweater Weather Tag

Kara at Flowers of Quiet Happiness has tagged me with this charming, seasonal tag :-)  Thanks, Kara!  Because this is linked directly to the season which we happen to be in right now, I'm going to do it before all the other tags that are patiently awaiting my attention.

Favorite candle scent?

I got this candle once called "Dragon's Blood" that was kind of a blend of citrus and musk and something spicy -- oh, I loved that candle.

Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?

I like all three, actually.  I drink coffee every morning, and sometimes in the afternoon too.  I drink hot chocolate on snowy days or in the evening when I'm writing.  And I drink tea when I'm writing or when I have a sore throat.

What's the best fall memory you have?

When I was ten or eleven, we went to visit some friends who lived on top of a hill, and we spent ages rolling down the hill.  I got so many leaves stuck in my long, long hair that the matriarch of that family took a photo of it and then gave me a copy when she got them printed.  I was convinced I still had that photo, but I looked all through my photo albums just now, and it's not there, so my parents must have it.

The countryside near where my parents live in North Carolina, as it looked last week.

Best fragrance for fall?

Burning leaves.

Favorite Thanksgiving food? 

Pumpkin pie!  Happens to be my favorite pie flavor.

Most-worn sweater?

I don't like sweaters.  Blech, too hot.  Also, often itchy.  I can't stand to be hot, and I hate being itchy.  However, I do have one loose, cool, non-itchy sweater that I bought for Christmas last year that is very comfy -- it's cream-colored and very simple, and I like to wear it in the winter to church now and then.

Football games or jumping in leaf piles?

I have zero interest in football.  Leaf piles for the win!

The woods not far from here last autumn.

Skinny jeans or leggings?

I've never worn either, but my girls wear leggings a lot.

Combat boots or Uggs?

Combat boots, though I still don't have a pair.  What's wrong with me?

Is pumpkin spice worth the hype?

Few things in this world are worth the hype.  I do like pumpkin spice-flavored things now and then, though.

Favorite fall TV show?

The Granada Television version of Sherlock Holmes, starring Jeremy Brett.  There's something deliciously autumnal about it.

(Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes)

What do you want to be for Halloween?

I went as the Armie Hammer version of Illya Kuryakin from The Man from Uncle, complete with cute hat, black turtleneck, and a bright blue sport coat.  I didn't get any good pictures, so here's one of me in the hat and my Illya t-shirt.

Me at my parents' house

Hats or scarves?

Hats!  I am exceedingly fond of hats.  I own lots of them.  But I like scarves too.

What's your #1 favorite thing about fall?

How creative I get as the weather cools off.  I write much more in fall than in summer, and craft more as well.

I'm not going to tag anyone in particular, so if you feel like joining, go for it!  If you don't, that's fine too :-)

Happy Halloween from the Femnista crew!

Our Halloween issue this year focuses on villainesses, and long before I knew I would be hosting the Hamlet read-along  on my other blog this October, I signed up to write about Gertrude and how she can be viewed or portrayed as a villainess.  No surprises there, huh?

My article is titled "Femme Fatale or Feminine Fatality:  Gertrude in Hamlet," and you can read the issue online here or download it as a pdf here.

Happy Halloween!  I'll be getting supper ready early for my little mice, and then into our costumes and off to trick-or-treating we go!  And yeah, I'm wearing a costume too this year.  I'm going as Illya Kuryakin!  Kind of melding that classic turtle-neck under a sport coat look from the TV show with the wonderful Armie Hammer version from the movie.  So imagine a combo of these two looks:

Um, yes.  I'll post pics if I get any good ones!

"Brigadoon" Soundtrack Review Up

I've got a new guest post up here on James' blog, this time for the soundtrack from Brigadoon (1954), one of my favorite Gene Kelly musicals.  Brigadoon is one of my top ten favorite musicals, but I feel like it's not as well-known as other musicals from that era.  So if you like classic musicals and haven't seen it yet, try out the music in my post and if you like it, try to find the movie!

Farewell to My Favorite Actress

1920-2015

 Maureen O'Hara has been my favorite actress since I was a kid.  I'm very sad that we have lost her.

John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara sometime during the filming of The Quiet Man (1952)

The Behind-the-Scenes Writing Tag

Elisabeth Grace Foley tagged me for this here -- thanks, Elisabeth!  It's been a while since I nattered on about my writing process, and like most of the writers I know, I would often rather write about writing than work on any of my WIPs, hee.  Okay, here are the questions and my answers, and random pictures of people writing that I have collected over the years :-)

Angel (David Boreanaz), Angel

Is there a certain snack you like to eat while writing?

Hot beverages.  Hot chocolate or mocha or tea, generally.  I can't eat and type at the same time, so food-like snacks get saved for reading and editing.  But I love to have something hot and friendly to drink while I write.

When do you normally write? Night, afternoon, or morning?

I write on Saturday mornings if I'm not going to a movie, and after 9 pm and my kids are in bed a few evenings a week.  I infinitely prefer to write during the morning when my head isn't cluttered with things I need to be doing and other every-day stuff, but it only happens on Saturdays right now.

Jerry (Bobby Darin), State Fair

Where do you write?

On Saturdays, I write at a local Starbucks, unless it's full, in which case I go to the nearby Panera.  I can get my hot beverage and spend an hour or two focused on nothing but writing, which is a treat.  When I write in the evenings, I'm in the living room, either on the couch or in my rocking chair, which I inherited from my Grandma.  I posted about this in more detail here back in January, if you want to see pictures.

How often do you write a new novel? 

Too often.  I need to staple my pants to the chair and get myself to finish revising my last novel, I really do.  Let's see... since 2002, I have written 6 novels, so that's one every 2 years or so.  None until this last one have felt like they were worth revising and trying to have them published.  I've been working on revising #6 on and off for over a year now, and I just need to quit getting distracted by other stories.  (But I'm probably going to start my new novel next month during NaNoWriMo anyway.)

Caje (Pierre Jalbert), Combat!

Do you listen to music while you write? 

Yes!  In fact, music helps me get into my writing "zone."  I love to listen to movie soundtracks and Bobby Darin while I write.  A lot of times, I'll experiment with different albums when I'm first writing a story or novel, and find one that suits it perfectly and stick with that for most of my writing.  For instance, I listened to almost nothing besides the soundtrack for The Quick and the Dead (1995) while writing my last WIP, with a little Bandelero! (1968) and Hour of the Gun (1967) mixed in.

What do you write on? Laptop or paper?

My laptop or our desktop computer.  But I take lots of notes on bits of paper that wind up taped to the big mirror in our master bathroom.

Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion), Castle

Is there a special ritual you have before or after you write? 

I read back over a scene or two that leads up to where I'm going to write, to remind myself where I was heading and get back into the story's flow.  That's about it.  I used to also light a candle, but I only do that rarely anymore.

What do you do to get into the mood to write?

Spend time during the day going over what happens next in my story so I have it fresh in my mind when I finally get to work on it.

Horatio Hornblower (Gregory Peck), Captain Horatio Hornblower

What is always near the place you write? 

Um... myself?  Seriously, I don't have any talismans or charms or anything like that.

Do you have a reward system for your word count?

No, but I do often come up with rewards for finishing off a story.  Like I told myself that if I finished off the major overhaul of my current WIP, I could start watching the TV show Leverage, because I have season one of it on DVD and haven't started it yet.  I did finish the overhaul, but I haven't had time to start Leverage yet, isn't that awful?  Soon!

Julio (Rudolph Valentino), Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (I think!)

Is there anything about your writing process that others might not know about?

When Dana Andrews perches on a desk in my brain and starts talking, I take notes.  Lots of notes.

Mark MacPherson (Dana Andrews), Laura

Well, that was fun!  I'm only going to tag three people:

DKoren

Eva

Heidi

If you're also a writer and want to do this tag too, consider yourself tagged!