You've probably heard about the pandemic...they mentioned it on the news.  The quarantine, be it by law or by choice, has altered all of our schedules.  Me being the silver linings, glass half-full kind of guy that I am (it's part of my charm) leads me to look for the sunny side of isolation.  What better time than now to catch-up on some books and movies that you haven't got around to yet?

 

I watched the  movie 1917 tonight.  Definitely not a feel-good romp, but absolutely the best war movie I have seen in a long time.  Two British soldiers are sent on an incredibly dangerous mission during World War I.  This singular mission is the sole focus of the film.  The movie never gets distracted with side stories and plot twists, this movie is straight-forward from beginning to end.  This is not a hooray for the good guys and to hell with the bad guys war movie either.  If you're looking for a villain in this movie, it is war itself.  The drama plays out naturally and the landscapes are brutal and ugly but shot so well that you can't look away.  An excellent movie...I recommend it.

 

As for books: I started reading The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature by David George Haskell last night.  Biologist Haskell went out every day for a year and and observed a single square meter of forest in Tennessee.  The book is filled with interesting facts about plants, trees, animals (big and small), and the effects of seasonal change.  This book is not going to be for everyone.  However, if you are interested in biology and ecology without all the wordy, academic journal style of writing this is a good read.  I enjoy being a know-it-all and spending time in the backwoods of Tennessee, so right away this book was in my wheelhouse.

 

Anybody else come across any good books or movies during quarantine?

Ditto on 1917

A Sand County Almanac  by Aldo Leopold seems like a similar book.  It is a series of seasonal  and species specific essays about nature as observed on his family property in Wisconsin. 

Think I'll go dig it out, since I am now living near there and could be experiencing the spring things myself.

 

 

As for quarantine reviews -   

 

Life is a light weight cop drama series set in L.A..  The twist being the lead detective has spent over a decade in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Once exonerated he gets his job back as part of a settlement.  It's about what you'd expect for a cop drama series, though I do enjoy the character development more than in most series.

 

 

9 hours ago, Boo said:

The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature by David George Haskell

 

 

1 hour ago, darcy said:

A Sand County Almanac  by Aldo Leopold

 

Thanks for turning me on to these  ^^^^

 

I am listening again to Chaos: Making A New Science by James Gleick

 

also listening to  A Lady's Life In The Rocky Mountains by Isabella L. BIRD (1831 - 1904)

Isabella Bird was a single woman in her early forties when she made her trek through the Rocky Mountains in the 1870's

 

This book is on Librivox.org

(a fabulous site of volunteers that read books in the public domain.  Some readers are excellent !)

 

A friend texts,

"I have gone through Netflix." 

Thought that was funny

I just watched  The House with a Clock in its Walls. We have Dish Network and they're giving us some free premium channels while we're under stay at home orders. The Professor with Johnny Depp was pretty trippy too

We watched The Nice Guys tonight.  I wouldn't describe it as a great movie, but definitely entertaining.  A crime drama/black comedy that manages to avoid the cliches and tropes that are too common in other movies similar to this one.  The kind of movie I would recommend with a "You'll like it...if you're into that kind of thing."

 

 

If you have finished netflix, lol...

 

Here is an awesome collection of music, film, spoken/written word, photographs, images.

From anonymous home movies to classic films. The World's Libraries.  Vintage radio/television. History. Concerts.

 

I have leapt down this rabbit hole and stayed for undetermined lengths of time.

 

Internet Archive: Digital Library

These are free, here are Audible Stories

There is a big children's section, Beatrix Potter !  Winnie-The-Pooh !

Free Audio Books, Literary Classics , Moby Dick, My Antonia, etc.

Had been watching movies that I hadn't seen yet, but went back and watched an old favorite tonight: Office Space.  Sugar Britches had never seen this movie before.  Shocking, I know.  She hasn't seen Idiocracy either so I think it's clear what we need to watch next.

 

Office Space was damn near perfect.  One area that could have improved the movie...more Lawrence.

 

On 3/28/2020 at 3:37 PM, BAT said:

Ditto on 1917

 

What he said

Reading.... smut

Watching...tripe

Listening to....lots of different things.

 

4 hours ago, notsmokinjo said:

Reading.... smut

Watching...tripe

Listening to....lots of different things.

 

 

Writing....smut

Watching...Passion Vines grow and lizards dart in courtyard.

Listening to....Boogaloo !  

 

 

On 3/27/2020 at 9:30 PM, Boo said:

 

 

Anybody else come across any good books or movies during quarantine?

 

 

The 1956 colorized version movie of 1984.

Also a book called "Don't Marry; or, Advice on How, When and Who to Marry" (1890) by Hildreth. I love these old books and have read several, but this one was a favorite of mine because now some of it is quite humorous and some gems of wisdom, like don't marry your first cousin despite any closeness or give notice to any playas, but also because it taught me the word "coquette," which is a new word I can throw around at people. Try yelling that out your car window. 

 

 

Not sure where to post this but since this is about the quarantine....

 

I started watching this new show on Amazon Prime / Freevee called Sprung about non-violent offenders in prison who, to their surprise, are released early due to this thing called Coronavirus that they never hear off.  They are released into a weird world of Covid shutdown and shenanigans occur.  So far it is good....very 2020.