Netflix: Cinderella Director Kenneth Bramagh has made an earnest, good-and-evil adaptation of the classic fairy tale, and kept it G-rated throughout, despite the deep unhappiness that is the expected trajectory of Ella’s life.
Author Archives: cafedave
Netflix: A Very Murray Christmas
Netflix: A Very Murray Christmas Moments of cleverness and an interesting experiment, but seems a bit too niche even for Netflix. Chris Rock and George Clooney are enjoyable in their scenes.
Three Little Bops
Watching the video for “Istanbul (not Constantinople)” I noticed that there’s a building called the “dew drop inn” which prompted me to look for this old Warner Bros classic (in this Three Little Bops video, with live jazz accompaniment). Bad theology aside, it’s a glimpse into the past, and a way to share Warner Bros …
Apple TV – Sherlock: the abominable bride
Watched Sherlock – the abominable bride with friends. The series continues its high-quality mysteries, keeps deepening the relationship between its principal characters and does it all with a clever twist on time-travel. If you like the series, this is more of the excellent same.
Underestimating the power of a fresh start
Today was a fairly poorly-considered start to the year. Instead of having a ready-to-use check list of all the things I want to do differently, I treated it as any other day. Failed attempt to sleep in – kids had other ideas. Attempts a Christmas present jigsaw puzzle that proved too hard for the kids. …
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reflections on being given a CD for Christmas
Never mind who gave it to me, or what it was: this is more about changing media consumption habits. A cartoon on the topic of “what drew me to vinyl” started me down this rabbit hole. We’ve seen with the slow closing of video rental stores the future of a business whose chief point of …
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audio book: The Martian
This XKCD cartoon first made me interested in the book. I was wondering whether or not to keep my Audible subscription, and this book popped up on the recommended list. Maybe I’d been spending too much time thinking about left-brain puzzles, but I really enjoyed this book: the structure is fairly predictable, but the author …
movie: The Lobster
Movie: The Lobster Colin Farrell again shows his commitment to his craft knows no bounds. In a dystopian future, single people have 45 days to find a match or they are turned into the animal of their choice. If you find that premise interesting, and you can push through some uncomfortable scenes, there’s much to …
apple TV: Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall
Stan: Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall With the upcoming Bond movie Spectre, there are all manner of Bond related promotions in progress. On Netflix-competitor Stan, there’s current access to all the Bond movies, so I thought I’d revisit the Daniel Craig Bond movies to see how they stand up. Casino Royale is from 2006, and it …
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movie: Bridge of Spies
Movie: Bridge of Spies I went into this fairly spoiler-free, having not heard of the historical person the movie was based on, and only watching the trailer briefly, and seeing this Tom Hanks / Jimmy Fallon piece. Spielberg is in good form here, even if the absence of a John Williams score (and indeed the …