This was quite an engaging film full of incredible actors (Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Sam Shepard, Juliette Lewis and so on). It was a story about a dysfunctional family that is brought together for a funeral. The movie was more about the interactions between the characters and was kind of light on plot, but I did rather enjoy it.
My rating: 3.5/5
Sometimes, I have unfortunate timing when it comes to choosing a book. In this instance, I started this book just before my family birthday party in May. Of course, I ended up getting a bunch of interesting books that day that I’ve been itching to read ever since. And, to top things off, I received the latest Stephen King book in the mail recently, so that gave me even more motivation to finish this book.
Not that there was anything intrinsically wrong with this book (which had a serial killer-type storyline), but I did figure out whodunit rather early in the story, which didn’t make it particularly compelling to read. But, I toughed it out and finished last night. I’m going to read the Stephen King book next, but that shouldn’t take long, then I can move on to my birthday books!
My rating: 3/5
This was a fine movie for Family Movie Night, but not my cup of tea, otherwise. Unlike, say, The Hunger Games, I think this movie would appeal more to kids than adults. It did have some great special effects, but was lacking in the plot department. The movie was one from a series of books, so I guess there will be more to come. I can’t say that I will watch the next one.
My rating: 3/5
I mentioned this show a few times in my previous posts. It is a French series about a group of previously dead people from the same town, who reappeared one day. Some of the people were dead for a short amount of time, others significantly longer. When they return, they are the same age as when they died and don’t remember what happened the day of their death, so it’s like nothing has changed for them. It was quite an interesting season. There were some things in the plot that weren’t explained, so I’m hoping that they cover that in season 2, which is supposed to be released later this year.
I failed to write about Jacob’s confirmation, which occurred last Sunday. The day started off at church, of course. Jake had a good showing of family members there and we all got to sit through an hour and fifty minute(!) service (which really isn’t that much longer than the normal service there, unfortunately).
After church, it started to rain, which didn’t make me happy because we were planning an outside party. It didn’t rain too long, though, so we still were able to hold the festivities outside. Brian set up a tent on the patio and we also have a big tree (and a table with an umbrella) that kept most of the rain off of everyone.
Despite the rain, it was a nice afternoon. I guess our next big bash will be graduation in four years!