"Inside Out" and The Week in Reviews

[It's more about what to avoid this week except for the new movie "Inside Out." I also review the DVDs "The Long Way Down" and "Hot Tub Time Machine 2." The Book of the Week is "Always Pack a Party Dress," fashion advice from a fashionista, and I also bring you up to date on "My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project:" - the Soviet silent film "Earth"]

 
Inside Out

Pixar's animated version of what it's like inside the mind of an 11-year-old.

Eleven-year-old Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) lives happily in Minnesota with her parents.  She loves her parents (Kyle MacLachlan and Diane Lane), she loves playing hockey, she likes to be goofy and has a best friend.  But when her family movies to San Francisco, Riley's world starts to fall apart.  She has a hard time making friends and misses her old friends, has an embarrassing moment at school, the hockey is not working out so well and she hates the pizza...and it doesn't help that adolescence is just around the corner.

If you ever wonder what your kids are thinking, well, now we know how it all works as Pixar takes us inside their minds.

We can see inside Riley's brain, where Joy, (Amy Poeller), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader) and Disgust (Mindy Kaling) live.  Joy runs the show.  She is a happy control freak but that's great because joy is what rules little Riley's life.  Joy doesn't want anything but joy for little Riley. Anger blows steam and flames out of his head when riled.  Fear runs amok, Disgust says "ugh" a lot and Sadness is a round blue blob of melancholy who keeps screwing things up, but as long as Joy is running things, she can keep those negative emotions at bay.

But Sadness can't keep her hands to herself and keeps touching the little balls of Riley's happy memories that are in storage up there at Headquarters and contaminating them. But it's the "core" memories that are most important and when Sadness messes those up, Joy and Sadness must go deep into the recesses of Riley's mind to save them.  There they run into Bing Bong (Richard Kind), Riley's long forgotten imaginary friend, part elephant, part floppy-eared dog who cries candy tears and who tries to help them.  But they also run into Riley's fears and sad memories.

While Joy and Sadness are gone from "control central," Fear, Disgust and Anger try to keep things running smoothly in Riley's mind.  Well, you can pretty much figure how that's going to work.

But what Joy doesn't realize in her frenzied quest to keep Riley happy is that Riley needs to be sad sometimes.  Sadness makes you appreciate the joy.  

That's the message in this delightful story devised and written by 
Pete Doctor ("Up," "Monsters, Inc." and "Toy Story") and others and directed by Doctor and Ronaldo del Carmen. 

But don't be fooled by this being a Disney picture.  This is not "Toy Story" or "Cars."  Yet it is just as enjoyable but probably not for very little kids.  The little kids in the audience were running around and not watching this film, because this one is more cerebral and aimed at older kids and their parents.

There are all kinds of funny moments and recurring bits such as a chewing gum jingle that once played you can't get out of your mind (we've all had that happen, right?) and Riley's "train of thought" is actually a train.

How is Pixar able to create characters that look like Keane paintings and yet get you to care so much that the hankies are out for much of the film?  It's the end of childhood.  That gets to all of us.

 Rosy the Reviewer says...a not-to-be missed summer movie!

***DVDS***

You Might Have Missed

(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)

 

A Long Way Down (2014)

 

Four disparate people find themselves up on a London rooftop on New Year's Eve, all planning to kill themselves. 

However, they talk each other off the ledge (literally).  The four make a pact that they cannot kill themselves until February 14 (the next date that people are likely to kill themselves).

Slowly the film reveals each character's story and what led them to that rooftop on that New Year's Eve.

Jess (Imogen Poots) is a politician's daughter (Sam Neill is her Dad), a sort of bad girl who is despairing of a recent rejection. 
 
Martin (Pierce Brosnan) is a disgraced TV presenter.
 
Maureen (Toni Collette) is overwhelmed caring for an invalid son and JJ (Aaron Paul) wanted to be a rock star but now is reduced to delivering pizzas. Oh and by the way, he is also dying of brain cancer.

The press finds out about the four of them so they decide to make some money out of it by telling their stories and saying that an angel stopped them from killing themselves.  But it all blows up and they decide to get away together to Tenerife to escape the press.

What started for each of them as a mission to kill themselves becomes a mission to save each other. 

I love Pierce Brosman and I have liked Nick Hornby's other screenplays ("High Fidelity," "About a Boy"), though he didn't write this one.  This one is based on his 2005 novel, adapted by Jack Thorne and directed by Pascal Chaumeil and it's a really good idea for a film: four people who all decide to kill themselves forming a bond not to. 

So what's the problem?  It just doesn't add up to a satisfying film. The characters are not particularly likable so you just don't really care what happens to them. Perhaps if Hornsby himself had written the screenplay, the film might have had more gravitas.  Unfortunately, the film was executed in a disjointed way and treats the issue of suicide in a rather glib manner.

Rosy the Reviewer says...good idea that they couldn't quite pull off.  Not recommended unless you are a big Pierce Brosnan fan (he is still handsome as hell) or wondered what happened to Aaron Paul after "Breaking Bad" ended.

Hot Tub Time Machine 2  (2015)

 

If you didn't see the first one, there is a hot tub that is really a time machine.

There is a bit of a recap at the beginning of this film, in case you didn't see the first one.  Lou (Rob Corrdry), Nick (Craig Robinson), Jacob (Clark Duke) and Adam (Adam Scott) discovered that their hot tub could transport them back in time.  Knowing what they knew in the present, they were able to make money and change their lives from what they learned from the past.   

So as this sequel begins, Lou is a rich big shot Internet mogul (he invented a search engine called Louggle), and Nick is a successful songwriter from stealing parts of other songs from the past.  Clark Duke is back as Lou's son Jacob and Adam Scott replaces John Cusack (who very wisely did not affiliate himself with this film), accompanied them back in time in the first one, as Cusack's son. 

Lou is shot in the groin at one of his over-the-top parties, and it is revealed that he has actually hidden the hot tub from his pals. But now they plan to go back in time before Lou was shot to save him.  Unfortunately, they end up in the future instead of the past.  Supposedly, The Hot Tub doesn't take you where you want to go.  It takes you where you NEED to go, and though I couldn't really figure it out, they needed to go into the future.

In the future - 2025 - Neil Patrick Harris is President.  And it gets worse.
 
Now bear with me.  The boys are here in the future to kill Lou's killer who came from the future to kill him in the present.  If you understand that you will enjoy this movie far more than I did.

There is one laugh: a smart car that wants to kill you and an ensuing fight between Lou and the smart car but basically it's penis jokes and offensive homophobic humor.

If they went into the future, why didn't Lou die?  If they couldn't control where they went when they ended up in the future, how could they get back to the present?  Oh, geez, why do I even try to figure this out?  I should instead try to figure out why I watched this thing in the first place!

Yes, I have to ask myself why. Why do I keep doing it?  Watching these comedies that are just terrible.  In my eternal quest to find a comedy that is actually funny, I have to kiss a lot of frogs or should I say, watch a lot of clunkers. But I remembered the first one as being funny, so I thought this one would be too.

That's the problem with sequels.

Beware of sequels, unless it's a "Star Wars" film (though all of those weren't stellar), "The Godfather," or "Jurassic World."  I am actually starting to get phobic about it because of the spate of sequels we have been subjected to, none of which measured up to the first (Pitch Perfect 2, both "Hangover" sequels,  and "Anchorman 2.")  And what is worse, many of them didn't deserve a sequel to begin with.  Think "Dumb and Dumber." If anything could be dumber than "Dumb and Dumber," it's "Dumb and Dumber To." If you liked the first one they will crank out as many as you can stomach, each one more horrible than the next until you can't stand it any more.  I am already worried about "Magic Mike XXL" and the next "Hunger Games."
 
Rosy the Reviewer says... if you like penis jokes, you might like this, but it's the kind of base humor that appeals to 15-year-old boys (and Hubby).  Don't wait until the future.  Avoid this DVD NOW!

***My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project***

258 to go!

 

  

Earth (1930)

 

It's the Ukraine in 1930. The peasants want collectivization but the landowners do not.

 

The film begins with close-ups of fruits and flowers, then long close-ups of pensive peasants. Our hero Vasyl, a proponent of collectivization, arrives with a tractor.  All of the other farmers urinate into an overheated radiator to show their solidarity in what has become a famous scene.  Vasyl is killed by an opponenet of collectivization but in death he becomes a symbol of the new way of life.

 

Why it's a Must See:  "Aleksandr Dovshenko's Earth is arguably the single greatest achievement of the ever-more-impressive Soviet silent cinema...Dovshenko's ode to the beginning of collectivization in the Ukraine is a riot of delirious imagery of swaying wheat fields, ripening fruits, and stampeding horses."
---1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

I have to be honest.  The silent films are the tough ones to appreciate. It's bad enough that we have to read subtitles, but the histrionic acting used to supplant the fact that no one talking is difficult to watch by today's standards.  It's probably because we are so over stimulated these days.  But if we can try to put ourselves back almost 100 years, I think we can appreciate the films that were produced then.

This was a bit like doing homework.  As a film enthusiast, this is one I had to be educated about, because I did not find it particularly enjoyable.  But I also didn't like math but knew I needed to know about it.

Rosy the Reviewer says...Unless you are really into film history and like Soviet silent films, you can probably skip this one.

***Book of the Week***

Always Pack a Party Dress: And Other Lessons Learned from a (Half) Life in Fashion by Amanda Brooks (2015) 

 

Brooks is the author of "I Love Your Style: How To Define and Refine Your Personal Style (2009)" and has worked as fashion director for Barneys - New York.  Here she shares her life and career along with fashion tips and other advice.
 

I was drawn to this book because I love fashion:  I like reading about it and I like wearing it.  However, when I am reading about buying basics for my wardrobe and a Rolex comes up, I am wondering what the hell I am doing with this book.  Brooks also says the book is aimed at 20-somethings with the goal of helping them feel fabulous.  If it takes a Rolex to feel fabulous, I pity those 20-somethings reading this book.  I don't know any who can afford a Rolex.

Brooks got into the fashion business early by becoming a photo assistant to  Patrick Demarchelier and from there her opportunities skyrocketed.  Reading books like this remind me that coming from money (she went to Deerfield - and you don't go to Deerfield if you don't come from money - and Brown, summered in Palm Beach and dated Diane von Furstenberg's son) helps you in life and being pretty doesn't hurt either when it comes to getting glamorous jobs and hanging out with the beautiful people (Mick Jagger had the hots for her and she name-drops like there is no tomorrow).

Brooks shares her "style influences (her mother - she's the one with the Rolex) - Sofia Coppola, Tracee Ellis Ross, David Hicks and Celine, to name a few.  When your style influences are movie or musical royalty, British nobility or a person whose name embodies a very high end brand, you know you are reading the work of someone who moves in circles you can't hope to enter.

She shares her ten best pieces of clothing which include a Balmain pea coat, a Chanel faux-crocodile jacket, and a Philip Lim evening cape and her five best accessories are Manolo Blahnik pumps, a Chanel bag, Celine sunglasses, Proenza Schouler colorblocked bag and Repetto flats, you know she is just  showing off and writing this book for her friends.  I don't even know who or what Proenza Schauler and Repetto are.

She tries to mitigate that with a chapter on how to pack (don't forget that party dress because you never know when one of the jet set will expect you at their party), how to learn from your mistakes, how to handle rejection, consulting tips (not sure how that slipped in there - not sure how many of those 20-somethings she is targeting are consultants) and making jam on her farm (read estate) in the Cotswolds, the fact remains that she thinks we can turn things we like to do on the weekends into a career, she gets to go to the Met Ball (not just once but many times) and she married a rich guy.  If you 20-somethings out there can relate to that, fine.  If anyone out there can relate to this, fine. I'm just trying to fit INTO a party dress!

Rosy the Reviewer says...there are some fun fashion tips here but unless you can relate to having lunch with Isabella Blow, and getting free Louboutin's from Louboutin himself, this is an exercise in futility and will just depress you.

That's it for this week!

Thanks for Reading!

 

See you Tuesday for

"Why Have a Wife?"

 

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to click on the share buttons to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn, 
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Check your local library for DVDs and books mentioned.

 

Note:  Next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). 

  

Find the page for the movie, click on "Explore More" on the right side panel and then scroll down to "External Reviews."  Look for "Rosy the Reviewer" on the list. Or if you are using a mobile device, look for "Critics Reviews." Click on that and you will find me alphabetically under "Rosy the Reviewer."

 

 

Things I Can't Resist

I have a fetish.

No, it's not a freaky kind of thing.  I'm not going all "Fifty Shades of Grey" on you. It's fetish in the obsession sense, a fetish for certain items. Items I can't resist.

I mean, do you ever find yourself buying yourself another handbag, even though you already have 20 at home?  Or shoes.  Shoes are one of those things some people can't resist. Or golf clubs?  Or cars?

My Dad had a fetish for trumpets.  He kept buying them, hoping to find the one that he thought would let him hit the high notes like Doc Severinsen.

Some fetishes come from childhood, I think.


For example, I have this fetish for jackets. 

I just cannot resist buying a cute jacket. 

I think it's because growing up I wasn't able to buy all of the clothes I wanted.  We were comfortable but my family certainly didn't have the money for me to have all of the latest styles I would see in "Seventeen" magazine. And I hung with some of the popular girls in high school whose family could afford all of those cute things - plaid skirts with matching vests, expensive jeans, little suits, though my Dad did get me this one.  I was over the moon.  It had been on the cover!

It was those little suits I coveted.  I must have thought if I had those cute outfits, I would be popular too.  So I guess that accounts for my almost 100 jackets.

Here is my latest acquisition.

I am particularly partial to military jackets.  I don't even want to get into where that might have come from!



In addition to jackets, I also can't help myself around luggage.

Like my Dad, I guess I think that if I find the perfect carry-on bag I will magically be able to take everything I want to Europe in a carry-on without being hassled by the airline staff.  When I get on a plane, I look like a homeless person wearing every article of clothing I own because I am so paranoid that I will have to check my carry-on.

Another fetish is faux fur. 

How many faux fur coats does a person need?   Mmmm, how about 10?  I know, it's crazy, but they make me feel glamorous.  And if it's leopard, I go even more nutty.  Leopard is the new black, you know.

I can also add anything velvet, suede or leather and blingy to that clothes fetish too.



I also cannot resist earrings, and the bigger the better.

Should a woman of a certain age wear big, flashy earrings?  Yes!  A woman of a certain age can do whatever she likes.  She no longer cares what others think of her fashion choices.


Books
I go to the library (and so should you!) and check out books and DVDs, but I also buy books.   For some reason, there are some I think I should own or that I think will take me longer to read, so I had better purchase them. But because I go to the library for the latest books, the ones I have purchased start to languish.  But I keep buying books, thinking that if I am ever bedridden, I won't run out of reading material. 

It's also kind of like Sarah Winchester (whose husband was the gun magnate, William Wirt Winchester) and the famous Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California.  A psychic once told her to move west and continuously build a house to atone for all of the deaths caused by the Winchester rifle. Sarah believed that if the house was ever finished she would die so she kept adding on to it, seven stories, strange staircases that went nowhere, that sort of thing.  Like Sarah,  I think I will stay around as long as I still have all of these unread books.




But how do I explain my fetish for poodles?

In my lifetime, I have had seven miniature and toy poodles.

Is it that they are just so darn cute?

So magically loving and sweet?

Or is it because they satisfy that other fetish?

Dressing them up.

 

 

 

I know. 

We all have our issues,
er, I mean fetishes.
 
Those are some of mine.

What are yours?



Thanks for Reading!

 

See you Friday

for my review of the new movie 

 

"The Longest Ride" 

and

 

The Week in Reviews

 

(What to See or Read and What to Avoid)

and the latest on

 

"My 1001 Movies I Must See Before

 I Die Project."

 

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to click on the share buttons to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn, email it to your friends and LIKE me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer

Retirement Fashion: Fabulous from A-Z

Retirement fashion.  An oxymoron? 

I recently wrote about another possible oxymoron, "Librarian Fashion," and smashed that stereotype. 

I am going to do it again with the stereotype of the retired old lady. You know the one: an overweight wrinkled crone with unkempt gray hair, shuffling around in her bathrobe and yelling at the kids across the street for making too much noise.

 

I will cop to the overweight part, and I might yell at the kids occasionally, but otherwise, no way am I letting it all go.  I may be retired but I'm not out.

So in keeping with my ever continuing desire to provide a public service via this blog, I am here to give some fashion tips and inspiration for those of us of a certain age and less than perfect size.

I got the idea for this post from an article I came across in a recent "Beauty & Style" edition of "People Magazine" called "Gorgeous from A to Z: Style.  Beauty. Health.  A Universally Appealing Wish List (Fall 2014)."

Well, universally appealing if you are between 18 and 35.  But it had some fun tips such as "L" is for "Little Black Dress" and "D" is for "Diamond earrings."  At my age, not so sure about the "little" part of "Little Black Dress" and on a fixed income, those diamond earrings will probably not manifest themselves. 

So I have subtitled my list "A Must-Have Fashion List for Curvy Women of a Certain Age Who Will Not Go Quietly."

Just because we are retired, it doesn't mean we stop wearing makeup, stay in our pajamas all day and watch "Dr. Phil."  Well, I might do that once in awhile (the no makeup and pajamas part) when I am home alone and planning on some binge watching of "Downton Abbey," but in general, I try to maintain myself as I did when I was out there in the world every day.  As a woman, I think I owe it to my fellow sisters of a certain age to hold up my end of things and not fall into the stereotype.  Just as I refused to fall into the librarian stereotype, I refuse to fall into the old lady stereotype.

So here is my list on how to be fabulous at any age from A-Z.

First of all,

A is for Attitude.

Yes, we are up there in age, but that doesn't mean we are invisible or ready to head toward the light.  We are still uppity and full of life and we show it by maintaining our sense of humor about life and about ourselves and by being interested in everything.  We travel, we exercise, we read, we skydive (some of us do that. I don't), we dance, we go to movies, we LIVE!  And it shows in how we express ourselves.

B is for Blouson top.

Now that's a term you don't hear much anymore, but I remember my mother using it all of the time, telling me it hides a multitude of sins.  And as usual, mother was right (one of these days my own kids will say that).  If you've been sinning a bit with the chocolates and you've got a little somethin' somethin' around the middle, this kind of top is for you.



C is for Classic Jacket

A nice black tuxedo jacket goes with everything.  Throw it on over jeans or a cool pencil skirt and you are instantly ready to go anywhere.  But it doesn't have to be black.  And roll those sleeves up for a little sass!

 

D is for Drapey Top.

I made that term up, but see "B" above.  Does the same thing.




E is for Earrings.

Just remember, your ears don't get fat.  Your earrings will always fit.  And earrings are a great way to express yourself so go BIG!




F is for Forever 21

(I got the jacket there)

When you are retired, you often don't have as much money as you once did to splurge on the latest trends.  So dip your toe in at Forever 21, where the clothes may fall apart after a couple of wearings but who cares?  They are inexpensive and fun.  They even have plus sizes.  And if you are embarrassed to shop there or the salesgirl looks at you funny, tell her you are shopping for your granddaughter.  Or better yet, ask her, "You lookin' at me?"




G is for Gray Hair

Don't even think about it.





H is for Headband

A cute way to have something on your head for the winter months and when you don't want to have to fix your hair or get hat hair from a hat.




I is for Innovation

Don't be afraid to experiment or reinvent yourself.  Now that you are not reporting to work every day, you are not limited by a dress code and can have some fun.  Not every look might work, but it's your life.  Live it.

 

J is for Jeans

If you are like me, finding the right jeans is as difficult as finding the right bathing suit and shopping for both of them can be a nightmare as in "is that really me in that mirror or one of those dancing elephants in "Fantasia" kind of nightmare.  But once you have the right pair, life is good.  There are some good ones out there that plump up the tush and pull in everything else.  Oprah raved about the Miraclebody Jeans a couple of years back and they were pretty good.  But just find the ones that make YOU feel you look great.  If YOU feel you look great, than you DO!




K is for Knee-High Boots 

Boots add a polished look and work especially well if your legs are less than perfect.


L is for Leopard Print

 

Leopard is the new black.  Trust me. You can wear it with everything!



M is for Make-up

Now I am not one of those women who won't let her husband see her without makeup so she jumps out of bed first thing and paints her face.  We all know I never jump out of bed.  When I am at home, I look like hell, but if I am going out, you won't catch me without mascara and lipstick at the very least.  Well, maybe at the gym or running to the grocery store, I let it slip a bit, but my point is, just because we are old, doesn't mean we have to accept the wrinkles and the flab and the little hairs on our chinny chin chins.  We should do what we can to still look good.



N is for No Bra

I just put this in to make sure you were paying attention.  But if you can get away with it, why not?



O is for Over the Knee Boots

The thing with over-the-knee boots is getting the damn things on and off.  So I say, if you can get them on and off, wear them!  I can and I do!




P is for Peplum

See "B" and "D" above.



Q is for Queen

You are one so demand the royal treatment. Any woman who has made it this far deserves some respect.  Don't take any crap from anyone!




R is for Really, Really Cool Jeans

As I said earlier, finding the right pair of jeans is essential. But I say go one step further.  Get some jeans that are fun, that have some sparkle, some bling or embellishment that shows your rock star side, your attitude!




S is for Sunglasses

Instant attitude!



T is for Tulle

No matter what her age, a girl can never have enough tulle. How else can she get her Stevie Nicks on?




U is for Unlimited Shoes

Like earrings, when you have packed on a few pounds and squeezing into your jeans feels like your are stuffing a sausage, your shoes will never let you down.  They will always fit.  And a lady can never have enough shoes!




V is for V-Neck

 

A nice V-neck is slimming to your face and calls attention to that alluring part of you, your collarbone and décolletage. It elongates your whole silhouette.



W is for Workout

Yes, we need to exercise (sigh), and it's a lot easier to go to the gym if we have a cute outfit that looks the part to wear.


X is for XL

This is what happens if you DON'T go to the gym.  But if it does, thanks to this size in our favorite store, we don't have to shop at Lane Bryant.


Y is for Yoga Pants

At this point, anything with elastic is a godsend.  Maybe you might even do some yoga.


Z is for Zebra Print

Zebra print just might overtake leopard as the new black!


Well, I hope I have provided some inspiration to some of my fellow fashionistas of a certain age.

The bottom line is this: 

NEVER GIVE UP ON YOURSELF!

Want to share YOUR Fashion Tips?

Thanks for Reading! 

 

See you Friday 

for my review of the new movie

 

"The Boy Next Door,"

 

The Week in Reviews,

 as well as my progress on

"My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project."

 

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to click on the share buttons to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn, email it to your friends and LIKE me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer