So I finally got to see the Disney racehorse movie “Secretariat”. It’s not bad, especially coming from someone who isn’t accustomed to G movies where there is no swearing and there are not even any hints at inappropriate viewing for children.

Indeed, in a way, I recoil from some of the sanitized versions of how real life is, but this movie brought me back to the joys of simple, fantasy movie watching. It was an uplifting movie for sure, and I had to get over that this was a movie suitable for families to fully immerse myself and enjoy it in all its purity and simplicity.

The movie Secretariat is about the greatest race horse that ever lived. The catch is that Secretariat was owned by a woman who knew little about horse racing. She took over her father’s horse breeding farm when it was in a shambles and desperately in need of financial overhaul.

Out of this came her passion to win, and passion to really do something special with her parent’s horse farm. Diane Lane, whom I love in just about every role she’s ever played, was terrific as Penny Chenery (Tweedy is her married name).

Penny had four children and a husband who was reluctant to let his wife go a couple weeks a month out to the horse trainers to oversee her precious Secretariat’s training and grooming for champion. The horse racing scenes in this movie are terrific, if not a bit sad because you feel bad for the heavy breathing horses, just racing to win.

The supporting cast is also very good with John Malkovich as the eccentric Lucien Laurin, who ends up taking the job reluctantly to train Secretariat, born as “Big Red” to go on to win several big championships, including the unprecedented Triple Crown, which truly boosted the race horse to the history books.

This is really a fun movie to watch. It’s a nice inspirational story about a housewife who defeated the odds and the critics, and seemed to get a life for herself in the process after sacrificing her own personal aspirations to become a wife and mother to four for eighteen years.

Penny also broke some taboos for women in the racing world by being accepted into several jockey clubs that formerly only had men in them.  Great movie – very good family entertainment.  You’ll really like it if you love horses.

Hello everyone, and Merry Christmas! It’s been quite the year in entertainent hasn’t it?  My favorite show by far and best surprise has been Game of Thrones, and I hope you’ll all tune in for the next season which starts in April. Another of my favorites, very much a shocker, has been The Walking Dead show.

This one really started off slow, but season two has me hooked and waiting for more.  Here’s to great Christmas movies – hope you watch at least one of the classics today with your family – Christmas Story, the Grinch, Frosty, Rudolph…..the list goes on and on.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

So I’ve already told you how unusual it is for me (and my husband for that matter) to do such a complete about-face on a show like we did with the show Walking Dead, which is a zombie apocolypse show that has been upgraded in my book from a ho hum TV show to an all out great drama and horror show in the second season.

The first season had me doubting whether it was ever going to get good with ridiculous dialogue, plot lines and dismal acting. This season it’s almost as if someone has taken over the bodies of the actors in the show and the writing and breathed new life in to it.

I think the location change from the city to a beautiful country scape in the south has really helped the story as well. There is something that is inifintely more disquieting about zombies inhabiting such a peaceful landscape as opposed to inhabiting a city.  As my husband says, the country bumpkin zombies just seem so much more menacing as well. Not sure why that is, but it is so!

They are taking lots of chances with this season as well, going off in to the edgy darkness with their story lines. The big reveal at the end of the first part of season II was (SPOILER ALERT) that Sophia, the little girl they had been searching for so long, ends up being in the barn that housed all of farmer Herschel’s family member zombies.

This show did a great job of really making us care for these characters this season. Before, I felt like I hadn’t invested in any of them whereas now, if any of them dies or becomes zombies, I’m actually going ot have a problem with it.

They’ve successfully built up the characters, and the special effects are just off the hook. Complete with the well walker and the neighbor walkers found in the woods, which Herschel makes Rick help round up with head-loop things, there are some great edge of your seat moments and some excellent special effects.

Now we’ve gotta wait until February to see the conclusion to this awesome second season!

My husband and I have been watching the Johnathan Ames inspired show “Bored to Death” about 3 slackers who are emotionally unavailable to anyone but themselves in this quirky comedy.  We’ve decided that it’s pretty good filler tv. Never must-see, mind you, just a good solid filler for in between when you don’t want to think a whole lot.

It’s a very subtle comedy that stars Jason Schwartzman as Johnathan Ames, who writes a lot of the episodes and has written stories about himself and his days as a private detective for hire (with  no real accreditation, assumingly he did it because he was just bored and needed the excitement!)

But Schwartzman isn’t the richest part of this little half hour escape from reality.  Ted Danson plays his wealthy pothead friend who still has money enough to spend and open a restaurant, although it seems he’s never really worked a day in his life and is well past his prime.

Then we have Zack Galifanakis, who plays his other friend, equally as much of a slacker. He’s an unemployed cartoonist who’s got some really quirky habits.  He’s also part self-loathing, part self absorbed and a great part of the ridiculous story lines they find themselves in.

Usually they’re just following Johnathan around on his various private dick assignments and getting themselves into a lot more trouble than is necessary.  The show, mind you, is far fetched, but it’s just pure quirky fun with some of the most unique characters I’ve seen on a television show since Seinfeld.