Paddington

In the deep jungles of darkest Peru, British geographer Montgomery Clyde happens upon a previously unknown species of bear. He is about to shoot it to take back a specimen to the United Kingdom when another bear playfully takes his gun away. He learns that this family of bears is intelligent and can learn English, and that they have a deep appetite for marmalade. He names them Lucy and Pastuzo. As he departs, he throws his hat to Pastuzo and tells the bears that they are always welcome should they wish to go to London. (Wikipedia)

Several years later, Lucy and Pastuzo's young nephew sets off to London, but fails to find either the explorer or a home. He is taken in briefly by the Brown family, while unbeknownst to him he is being pursued by a Museum of Natural History scientist with evil designs.

This was completely off my radar since my kids are grown and I never encountered the Paddington books. An upcoming visit with our 5-year-old goddaughter and Paddington 2's stellar reviews brought the original movie to my attention. How lucky for me that it was streaming on Netflix so I could catch up before taking Maggie to the movies next weekend.

What a delight this was. Much like Babe, this didn't talk down to children and still had plenty for adults to enjoy. It was charmingly old fashioned while being set in the modern world, funny without being stupid or crude, and balanced sweetness with playful mischief. There was also a certain amount of mystery and danger that engaged us, despite all expectations.

We were all impressed at the level of care that went into the film, from the shooting and production design, to the completeness of the story. For example, we watched with a daughter who's watched many a movie with a good friend who is a production artist and always pointed out background reinforcement of the story. So we were clued in to the color scheme. Red is adventurous and on Paddington's side. Blue is careful and apprehensive about the world. The way family members' clothing changes depending on their character development and the storyline was delightful.

And the story didn't show us a single marmalade sandwich in the opening act that it didn't use by the end. The use of a running joke as an dramatic plot device at the ends was brilliant. It was a really well constructed script.

Paddington 2 is supposed to be even better, though I'm darned if I know how they'll achieve it. I'm just grateful it brought this movie to our attention.

Worth a Thousand Words: Red Alert

Karin Jurick, Red Alert

I love the way the rascal in the painting is eyeing the girl!

2018 Challenge - Books and Movies

I have to admit it — my challenge for last year was mostly a bust. I abandoned it pretty early in the year mostly, I think, because I made the list out of a sense of duty. I'd done all those other yearly challenges, after all. Why stop now?

2017 turned instead into a year of reading and watching whatever I picked up and that morphed, surprisingly, into series. You can see some of that in My Year of "In Order."

• I read Terry Pratchett's books in order of publication, stopping only short of when his Alzheimer's began manifesting in bad books.
  
  
• We are just two movies shy of watching all the James Bond movies. It's been very interesting.
  
  
• Star Trek still has about a season and half to go before we can move on to The Next Generation. (Yes, this "in order" may take the rest of my natural life, but what a way to go!)
  
  
• We began watching The Avengers. They have proven to be just as whimsical and clever as I recalled. We're halfway through the second season and then will sample some Wild, Wild West to see if it is as spy-fy-ish / steampunk as I recall.
  
  
• I finished reading the Bible in chronological order. That began in 2016 but became a treasured habit. So much so, in fact, that I promptly began all over again. I'm using a different translation — Knox edition — as well as my study Bible which has become the place where I put all my notes from commentaries and studies. 

The result is that I've got a different approach this year which is much looser.

Once we finish James Bond, we're going to begin watching Billy Wilder's movies in order. We will also sprinkle in a little Akiro Kurosawa (in order, natch) through the year as we go.

I have a couple of series I'd like to reread:

• Slough House (begins with Slow Horses)
• Night Watch (which I've reviewed quite a few of, if you check the Book Reviews page, beginning with Night Watch)

Mostly, I have a big list of books that I began but never finished. Some are really long and I just dip into them occasionally. This is especially the case with Paul Johnson, Louis L'Amour, and Sense of Wonder.  Others, though, were put down when the next shiny new book came along. They're too good to abandon but I need to stop adding new books and finish them.

• A History of the American People by Paul Johnson
• Lone Star: A History Of Texas And The Texans by T.R. Fehrenbach
• Heroes & Heretics of the Reformation by Phillip Campbell
• Heroism and Genius: How Catholic Priests Helped Build — and Can Help Rebuild — Western Civilization Hardcover by William J. Slattery
• The Big Book of Adventure Stories edited by Otto Penzler (rereading)
• Plain Tales from the Hills by Rudyard Kipling
• Sense of Wonder: A Century of Science Fiction by Leigh Ronald Grossman
• Acts of the Apostles (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture) by William S. Kurz SJ
• Hebrews (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture) by Mary Healy
  
• The Gospel of John (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture) by Francis Martin and William M. IV Wright
  
• God or Nothing by Cardinal Sarah
• Meditations Before Mass by Romano Guardini
• Theology and Sanity by Francis Sheed
• The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton (rereading)
• Louis L'Amour's complete short stories
• Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts: Twelve Journeys into the Medieval World by Christopher de Hamel
  

You've got to admit, that's a pretty big stack of great books — tragically unfinished. It could take a year. Especially since I've got some other "assigned" reading as I go for various podcasts and my book club. For example, Kristin Lavransdatter (1,100 pages) is taking up most of my reading time now. But we shall see how it goes for whittling this list down!

Worth a Thousand Words: Arrival of Heralds to the Kremlin

Apollinary Vasnetsov (1856–1933), Arrival of Heralds to the Kremlin

Lagniappe: Bertie's Christmas Eve

"Come, Teddie, it's time you were in your little bed, you know," said Luke Steffink to his thirteen-year-old son.

"That's where we all ought to be," said Mrs. Steffink.

"There wouldn't be room," said Bertie.

The remark was considered to border on the scandalous; everybody ate raisins and almonds with the nervous industry of sheep feeding during threatening weather.

Saki, Bertie's Christmas Eve

A Treasury of Hours: Selections from Illuminated Prayer Books by Fanny Fay-Sallois

Before the invention of the printing press, wealthy men and women of Europe commissioned hand-lettered and hand-illustrated volumes from some of the finest artists of the time. Among the most precious were books of hours, which contained psalms and readings arranged for specific times of day. Many of these books contained ravishing illustrations—called "illuminations"—picturing such biblical scenes as the Nativity, the Mount of Olives, the Dance of Salome, and the Pentecost. The margins of these pages were often embellished with enchanting decorative motifs of flowers, foliage, birds, and animals.

I've long been fascinated by the idea of using a Book of Hours for devotion. This lovely book from The J. Paul Getty Museum delivers the closest experience I'm likely ever to have.

Selections from a variety of illuminated prayer books take the reader through a good representation of what patrons would have found in the books they commissioned for their own daily prayer. They include variety of different books of hours and topics ranging from calendar pages, gospel passages, hours of the Passion, hours of the Virgin, and the saints. Each spread has a prayer and annotation so you can get more out of the illustration and prayer.

This is a book I will visit again and again. Not only is the artwork delightful but the artists' interpretations gave me new food for thought and reflection. Just as a Book of Hours is supposed to do!

Worth a Thousand Words: Street in Saintes-Maries

Vincent van Gogh, Street in Saintes-Maries, 1888
Via Arts Everyday Living

Lagniappe: A Citrus Tart and the Unexpected

The air is clear and cold, and there are paper-white narcissi in a bowl on the table, filling the kitchen with their gentle, vanilla smell. Winter at its purest. This is the sort of day on which I like to bake — a cake, a pie, a tart perhaps. I enjoy making pastry, though rarely do, each time adding as much butter as I dare, just to see how crisp and fragile I can get the crust. Today I want something fresh, with a clean bite to it, a dessert to make everyone smack their lips. I decide on a lime custard tart in the style of a tarte au citron. The lime zest cuts through the cool air. The warm smell of baking pastry wafts into the house. Heaven. Halfway through baking, I check the tart's progress only to find the pastry shell empty and the citrus filling forming a lemon-colored pool on the baking sheet. I pile the whole damn failure into a bowl (and later eat it in secret after everyone has gone home) and start again.

Nigel Slater, The Kitchen Diaries

I can relate. I love, love, love that honesty.

A Divine "Mistake": Priest’s hospital room mix-up allows dying woman to receive sacraments

Shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve, Father Gergorio Hidalgo went to a hospital to give Communion to a patient. But a “mistake” in room numbers allowed him to administer the sacraments to a dying woman as well.

“Last night I went to the hospital at 11:32 p.m. for an emergency. By mistake, I go to the wrong room. Patient is dying. Confession, anointing, communion and then she passed away 2 hours later. Best mistake I have ever made. THANK YOU GOD FOR USING MY MISTAKES,” the priest, better known as Father Goyo, posted on Twitter.

Read the whole story here. Via Jeff Miller.

The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

A hilarious, fast-paced tale about a club of anarchists in turn-of-the-century London. Gabriel Syme is invited by a fellow poet to attend a secret meeting of anarchists, whose leaders are named for the days of the week, and all of whom are sworn to destroy the world. When Syme is unexpectedly elected to fill a vacancy on the anarchists' Central Council, the plot takes the first of many surprising twists and turns.

I've meant to read this for some time but, since I find Chesterton's novels the most difficult of his writing, I needed a push. That came in the form of upcoming participation in an SSFaudio podcast episode.

This grabbed me by the throat and I read it with delight at the humor, intelligence, plot twists, and adventure. At the end I was thrown for a loop and could only agree with Goodreads reviewer Dan Schwent who said, "The Man Who Was Thursday reads like P.G. Wodehouse writing from a Phillip K. Dick plot while on a Nyquil bender."

We were warned. The subtitle does say "A Nightmare."

And yet, reader, I loved it.

I'm really looking forward to having this particular bender unraveled by conversation at SFFaudio.

Worth a Thousand Words: Lynx

Remo Savisaar, Lynx

Weekend Joke: The Texan and the Australian

A Texan farmer goes to Australia for a vacation. There he meets an Aussie farmer and gets talking.

The Aussie shows off his big wheat field and the Texan says, "Oh, we have wheat fields that are at least twice as large."

Then they walk around the ranch a little and the Aussie shows off his herd of cattle. The Texan immediately says, "We have longhorns that are at least twice as large as these."

The conversation has, meanwhile, almost died when the Texan sees a mob of kangaroos hopping through the field. He asks, "And what are those?"

The Aussie asks with an incredulous look.

"Don't you have any grasshoppers in Texas?"

Blogging Around: The Last Jedi, Downsizing, Humanae Vitae, and LOTR

Interesting things from my travels through the interwebs.

Failure and The Last Jedi

One thing that I did think was really interesting about those sub plots was the way that characters did fail in key ways and were forced to move on to the next step after those failures. By comparison, most Sci-Fi adventure movies do not allow their heroes to suffer any but the most temporary setbacks.

Thus does DarwinCatholic point us to a very interesting piece by Emily Snyder about the ways in which characters in The Last Jedi face failure. It's long and has many spoilers, but once you've seen the movie it is definitely worth reading.

It made me think of my excitement at one point in the movie when someone is determined to carry out their mission and it's clear that they'll have to die to do it. At that moment I thought, "That's bold. Like Joss Whedon. Not afraid to kill a main character when the story requires it." No spoilers here so I won't continue this train of thought, but clearly Emily Snyder and I are on the same page.

A must-cover Godbeat item in 2018: 

The 50th anniversary of 'Humanae Vitae'

There were no yawns in 1968 when Pope Paul VI issued his birth-control edict “Humanae Vitae,” which provoked a global uproar inside and outside his church.

Retrospectives will be a must item on reporters’ calendars around July 25, the 50th anniversary of this landmark.

GetReligion has a list of news angles to consider and they make surprisingly good food for thought as we reflect on how drastically the world has changed since the advent of the Pill.

The Surprising Message of "Downsizing"

When I took in the opening scenes, and heard a lot of talk about protecting the environment and the dangers of overpopulation, I thought that Downsizing would be a propaganda piece for left-wing causes. Here I was surprised again, for the film amounts, I will argue, to a not-so-subtle critique of that ideology. ...

Wouldn’t it be best, many seem to think, if the human race just shrank down and went away? Downsizing gives dramatic expression to this conviction and, not so subtly, makes fun of it.

I came away from Bishop Barron's review with a much more positive take on this movie than I'd had before.

Blogging Through LOTR

Lars Walker at Brandywine Books has been reading The Lord of the Rings and blogging his thoughts on writing, reading, and building a worldview as he's gone along. It makes interesting reading.

Pork in Green Sauce

My favorite thing to make with pork roast leftovers is Pork in Green Sauce and then wrap it up in a flour tortilla. Don't have a pork roast handy? I've even got a way to conquer that problem. Get it at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

The Last Jedi

We saw this on the afternoon of New Year's Eve and it was a great send-off to the year. I don't know how Rian Johnson (writer and director) did it but somehow he evoked the old movie while simultaneously telling us a new story. I guess that is the way with the best storytelling that is continuing a well-loved tale. At least if it is successful.

There was, it is true, one plot hole that had me indignant the second it came up. However, it wasn't enough to ruin the film. I loved Laura Dern's general, calm and cool with her purple hair, blue eyes, and evening gown. And this was a fitting last role for Carrie Fisher who I hadn't realized was in the movie so much.

Interestingly, this featured a lot of women leaders but it did it the right way — no hitting us over the head about "that's right, a woman did it!" — everyone was a person doing what they could to make things turn out right. It also featured a lot of aliens, especially in terms of indigenous life around the action. That felt right and was interesting. I especially loved the place Finn and Rose wound up which showed us another take on alien planets. A lovely twist.

The story holds true to the essence of what has always been true about the Star Wars movies. We still must make our choices and free will is a factor in all we do — that part rings very true. For my money, Rose has the best line in the movie, one that defines whether you choose the dark or the light.

Can Rian Johnson do all the Star Wars movies? Puhleez?

Weekend Joke: Boudreaux and Thibodaux

One day Boudreaux and Thibodaux were watching TV. A good commercial about a movie came on and it said, "Coming To A Theatre Near You."

Boudreaux looked at Thibodaux and said, "Thib, how they know where we live?

Bright: So an orc, an elf, and a cop walk into a bar ...

In an alternate present-day where magical creatures live among us, two L.A. cops become embroiled in a prophesied turf battle.

So an orc, an elf, and a cop walk into a bar ... hey, this thing practically writes itself. And it didn't inflict half the pain on me that a recent viewing of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation did. I guess I'm more suited to watching mediocre action better than broad comedy.

We saw this Netflix movie had 29% of critics liking it while getting an 88% audience score. So we got curious. Which set would we agree with?

After all, it's got Will Smith and Joel Edgerton. What could go wrong? Oh, if I had a nickel for every time I asked that question.

It had all the elements it needed to be good but what it lacked was focus on whether to be a cop story with elements of fantasy or a fantasy story with elements of real world cops. That lack of focus made it a mess, especially in the middle. So we are on the critics' side for this one.

It was interesting to me, personally, to see that Will Smith has finally crossed the line to where he looked like the older experienced cop because he looked definitely middle aged in a lot of shots. Not a bad look, just a new one to me.

We've got our fingers crossed for the TV version after the guys have retired ... they're running a detective agency, The cute elf is the secretary, and the Magic Case Feds feed them cases to solve. I'd watch that.

Best of 2017 - Movies

In 10 words or less, my top picks from the movies we watched last year. As always, the movies may be old, but my viewing was brand new in 2017.

Night Train to Munich (1940)

Witty dialogue, spy suspense, and Rex Harrison as a hero. (My review here.)

The Cat People (1942)

Inherited evil, film artistry, simmering sexual tension — and cats! (My review here.)

Queen of Katwe (2016)

Family film with unusual subtlety, nuance, definite sense of place. (My review here.)

Arrival (2016)

Quietly absorbing and spectacular. (Discussed at A Good Story is Hard to Find.)

Train to Busan (2016, Korea)

Fathers, families, and more thoughtful than the average zombie movie. (My review here.)

The Founder (2016)

Leaves you pondering innovation and what "to invent" something means. (My review here.)

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

George Lazenby + Diana Rigg + director (style, wonderful shots, timing) = wonderful. 

Lion (2016)

Well told tale of Indian street urchin — blew me away. (My review here.)

Colossal (2016)

Gloria and the monster. Impossible to describe without spoiling. (My review here.)

The Women's Balcony (2016, Israel)

Witty, good humored, intelligent look at men, women, and faith. (My review here.)

Best of 2017 - Books

In 10 words or less, my top picks from the books I read last year. You may find old books here but if they're on this list, then they were new to me!

The Green Jacket

by Jennette Lee

An unusual and winning female detective in 1917 ... and knitting! (My review here.)

How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization

by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

A terrific book, highly readable. I definitely recommend it.

Spook Street

by Mick Herron

Spy story with intricate plots, gritty settings, humor, and treachery. (My review here.)

Made in India: Recipes from an Indian Family Kitchen

by Meera Sodha

Global Indian food which works in an American kitchen — delicious!

Ender's Game

by Orson Scott Card

Engaging, easy read with beautiful ending — melancholy but hopeful.  

(Discussed on A Good Story is Hard to Find.)

Terry Pratchett Books Read in Order

New favorites: The Watch series,  Interesting Times, and The Truth.

Leviathan Wakes

by James S. A. Corey

Suspenseful space opera/noir mystery with riveting cliffhangers throughout.

(My full review here. Discussed on A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.)

Ivanhoe

 by Sir Walter Scott

Inventive plot twists, laugh-out-loud humor, and Rebecca. Recommended! (My review here.)

Black Bottle Man

by Craig Russell

A good deal-with-the-devil tale and historical fiction. (My full review is here.)

The Little Way of Terry Pratchett

An oldie (2015) but a goodie from Leah Libresco Sargeant. Via Will Duquette.

“There’s no grays, only white that’s got grubby. I’m surprised you don’t know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.”

“It’s a lot more complicated than that—”

“No. It ain’t. When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means they are getting worried that they won’t like the truth. People as things, that’s where it starts.”

“Oh, I’m sure there are worse crimes—”

“But they starts with thinking about people as things …”

Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum

Reading that as an atheist, it was the first time I’d seen a definition of sin that didn’t sound like, as Francis Spufford describes our modern use of the word in Unapologetic, a kind of “enjoyable naughtiness” that seemed mostly to do with sex or very expensive chocolates.

But the kind of sin that Granny talks about isn’t an indulgence in something harmless, luxurious and secret. And it’s not the world-shaking evil of a monster or a murderer. It’s a seemingly small rejection of creation and the particular place our fellow people have in it. It’s not always choosing hatred; it can be putting aside love for indifference.

Leah Libresco Sargeant, The Little Way of Terry Pratchett

I have long loved Granny Weatherwax for all the reasons Leah Libresco Sargeant mentions in her piece, which you should go read. In fact, I included that quote in Happy Catholic for it's solid truth.

It is interesting seeing how influential Terry Pratchett's insistence on human worth can be. Certainly it is one of the reasons I loved his stories. He doggedly and continually defends the value of each human. And the clear-sightedness of what sin really is. Whether he called it sin or not.