Tag: Downton Abbey

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The Best and Worst of 2015

By Jim Spiegel

It’s been another exciting year, and we want to thank you all for reading and, if applicable, posting comments on our blog. Once again, we would like to close out the year with some summary remarks about good and bad stuff related to film, music, books, sports, food, and family.

Best Film Experiences:

Jim: This was a big year in film, and I was fortunate to catch a lot of good ones, both at the theater and on DVD. A highlight in the latter category was watching Richard Linklater’s amazing Boyhood twice in as many days. All of the superlatives critics have laid on this one—“masterpiece,” “extraordinary,” “historic cinematic achievement”—are accurate. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. Another highlight was the new Star Wars film. With The Force Awakens, J. J. Abrams has saved the Star Wars legacy. He managed to achieve the same organic feel, character-centric storytelling, and campy wit as the originals, all while advancing a narrative that will hopefully keep us captivated for years, if not decades, to come. I also enjoyed Inside Out, which deserves accolades for its unique premise as well as its fine execution. Another major highlight was M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit, which proved that, after a few stinkers, he can still make a great thriller.

Amy: It feels strange to say I am having a hard time remembering good movie experiences this year. While I loved The Visit as a film, the audience Bailey and I shared the theater with nearly ruined it for me. I wasn’t blown away by Star Wars. I mostly enjoyed things on the smaller screen. The Man in the High Castle for serious-minded alternate reality and Tommy and Tuppence for pure fun. There were some good PBS series this summer and I am holding my breath in hopes that Downton Abbey and Sherlock won’t disappoint this winter.

Jim’s Best Musical Experiences of the Year: The year started slowly but finished strong in terms of discoveries of good artists or new albums from artists I was already into. In the latter category, I finally got Manchester Orchestra’s Cope, which is even more addictive than their albums usually are for me, which is saying a lot. Also, after many recommendations from friends, I picked up an Arctic Monkeys album—Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.  I was not disappointed. And I’ve been getting into the new albums by Alabama Shakes (Sound and Color) and Twenty One Pilots (Blurryface), as well as several albums by Cage the Elephant, which is my most exciting musical discovery in years. A virtue that all of these bands have in common is that they (or, anyway, their main songwriters) have something significant to say. That’s refreshing in an era of predominantly mindless musical fluff.

Amy’s Best Food Experiences of the Year: This year most of my food experiences have been in my own kitchen, the remodeling of which was a major highlight. I have done some experimenting, catered a friend’s wedding and decompressed with some serious baking. We also hosted our first Thanksgiving meal at home and though my rolls were undercooked and I was not impressed with the addition of cinnamon to my usually yummy pecan pie, filling our table with beloved faces and laughter was quite satisfying.

Jim’s Favorite Sports Moments of the Year: I am sincerely hoping that my favorite sports moment of 2015 is yet to come.  This would be Michigan State defeating Alabama in the Citrus Bowl tonight, which is also the NCAA football playoff semi-final. We’ll see. Go Green, roll over the Tide! But if that doesn’t happen, then I would say that watching the Cubs make it all the way to the National League championship series—just a few wins shy of the World Series and thus breaking the “goat curse”—was the 2015 sports highlight for me.

Amy’s Favorite Sports Moments of the Year: Hopefully, Jim will forgive me for this one, but my favorite moment was randomly choosing to represent the Spartans while Jim cheered on the Wolverines in the Michigan intrastate rivalry game and then watching their unbelievable last second win. I felt slightly guilty cheering in his stunned face, but since he is rooting for MSU against Alabama, he must have gotten over it.

Jim’s Most Disappointing Sports Moments of the Year:  I’m not even going to comment on that tragicomic finish in the UM/MSU game… This NFL season has been chock full of disappointments, as none of my three favorite teams—the Colts, Lions, and Saints—will make it to the playoffs.  (Yes, three favorite teams—Amy calls me a promiscuous fan, but I own it proudly). And, regarding baseball, it was pretty deflating to see the Cubs bow out to the New York Mets in the NLCS. However, this made it all the sweeter to see the Kansas City Royals beat them in the World Series.

Amy’s Most Disappointing Sports Moment of the Year: Every year, I tell myself that a true Cubs fan knows they are cursed, has no hope, but cheers for them anyway. Still, hope will find a way to creep in and whisper sweet nothings in my ear only to give way to disappointment…again. This year hurt.

Good and Bad Reads of the Year:

Jim:  As usual, my reading this year was almost exclusively non-fiction, and primarily scholarly stuff, especially having to do with ethics and philosophy of religion. Robert Reilly’s Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior is Changing Everything (Ignatius, 2014) is one of the best books dealing with ethics, not just sexual issues, that I’ve read in years. Reilly takes a natural law approach to the issue, and the book is replete with bold observations and profound insights. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the LGBT issue, whatever one’s perspective might be. My most disappointing read of the year was Thomas Jay Oord’s The Uncontrolling Love of God: An Open and Relational Account of Providence (InterVarsity, 2015).  This book has been touted by some as a step forward for open theism. It is anything but that, as the author’s thesis (that God is essentially limited both in terms of knowledge and power) is problematic in itself. But he also commits glaring mistakes along the way in making his argument (if one can call it that). Steer clear of this one, folks.

Amy: So many good reads this year it’s hard to know where to start. The Wright Brothers by David McCullough. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick Dewitt. The Good Earth by Pearl Buck. Ghost Boy by Martin Pistorius. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. Most of the things that I read and didn’t like, I wasn’t really expecting to like in first place. Some disappointing mysteries and less than stellar fiction, but overall this has been a great year of reading for me. Check out my Good Reads page or Book Blurbs here on Wisdom and Folly to see more reviews.

Best 2015 Family Memories:

Amy: The kids and I had some good outings this year. Maggie, Andrew and I visited Dayton, Ohio and took in some Wright Brothers sites as well as Wright Patterson Air Force Museum. We also went to the Dunes in Michigan in the Fall and had a great day climbing in the sand and watching Penny bark at the waves. Teaching Bailey to drive has been memorable, to say the least. Having my niece Rachel living close by as a freshman at Taylor has been pure joy.

Jim: I had lots of good sports (baseball, soccer, and basketball) memories with the boys.  And it was fun to see Maggie become an obsessive Beatles fan. Growing to love our new family member—our standard poodle named Penelope Lane Spiegel (or “Penny Lane,” for short—get it?), whom we adopted a little over a year ago—would probably top the list for 2015. And hiking the Smokies with Amy, the kids and my in-laws was another family highlight.

Best Kids’ Quotes of the Year

As usual, most of the best quotes from our kids this year come from our poet-comedian-dreamer daughter, Maggie (11).  But Andrew (9) got off a few good ones as well:

  • Maggie: “If I were God, the world wouldn’t be nearly so complicated.”
  • Andrew: “Make-up is for people who can’t accept the truth about how they look.”
  • Maggie: “If animals could talk, the world would have a lot more good stories.”
  • Maggie: “This is my favorite hair on my entire head.”
  • Andrew: “Everything that has to do with tomatoes is bad.”
  • Maggie: “A poor man’s wisdom is a rich man’s folly…I’m not sure that that means, but it sound right.”
  • Maggie: “Punching someone in the face is on my bucket list. If I have to, I’ll punch the nurse at my death bed.”

New Year’s Resolutions:

Amy: Not to sweat the small stuff and to keep showing up every day. Maggie and I are embarking on a Bible reading plan this year. Getting through five months with Bailey a continent away (as he attends school in La Paz, Bolivia this Spring) feels like quite the hill to climb so I suppose learning to entrust my kids ever further into God’s plan for their future should be among my loftier goals.

Jim:  Last year my resolution was to read half as much as my wife did this year, which would have meant reading 25 books. I didn’t quite pull that off. Okay, I didn’t even come close. So next year, since it is 2016, I resolve to read at least 16% as many books as Amy. I think I can pull that off, then perhaps add a percentage point each year. By the time the goal becomes unrealistic again, I’ll be able to blame my failure on senility. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

Happy 2016 everyone!

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Snapshots

By Amy Spiegel

Brief comments on film by Amy.
Some old, some new.  Domestic films and foreign too.

Boyhood — I forced Jim to take a break from all his kitchen renovating and watch this one with me. We both considered it time well spent. Jim was so impressed he watched it again the next day. There is patient character development, and then there is Boyhood. Filmed over the course of 12 years using the same actors, Boyhood is a fascinating window into the life of a boy and his family. The viewer not only watches the character of Mason grow and mature but also watches Ellar Coltrane, who plays Mason, grow and mature as an actor. Written and directed by Richard Linklater of Before Sunrise, etc, Boyhood’s strengths are its weaknesses.

From Wikipedia
From Wikipedia

Using the same actors over more than a decade not only adds to the realism of the film, it also endears the characters to the viewer in a completely unique way. Additionally, I think the relationships these actors have with one another must have developed over that time, adding to their onscreen chemistry. That being said, it also creates an unevenness to the performances as the actors, especially the children, hone their craft. Boyhood is definitely more successful than Before Sunrise and its sequels in drawing you in. It’s worthy of the award attention it is getting and well worth the watch.

Night at the Museum 3 — I love movies that I can watch with the kids—lighthearted and kid-oriented—but during which I don’t have to fake laugh or fight off the temptation to catch a quick nap. The first two films in the Night at the Museum series were two such movies and #3 did not disappoint. Thank you, Ben Stiller, for not thinking yourself above simply entertaining us.

The Maze Runner — I am up for a good dystopian young adult flick as much as the next gal. The key word being “good.” Don’t think it is worth wasting any more space on this one than I already have.

Neighbors — I have no problem checking out films from the library when I know they will probably be bad. It’s free and, hey, you never know. This one wasn’t worth the effort it took to swipe my library card. Despite fast-forwarding many of the more graphic scenes of this “comedy,” I still felt like I needed a long shower and several hours of soul cleansing viewing to recover from this one. The fact that there are people out there who would find anything about this movie humorous is just plain tragic.

Honorable and not so Honorable Mentions — This is my favorite time of the year for television viewing, when all the good BBC stuff comes out to tide us over till baseball season starts. Here are a few I recommend, or don’t.

Downton Abbey (Season 5): This should have ended it when they had the chance to wrap it up on a high note. The episodes feel crowded with storylines and several of the actors feel like caricatures of themselves, simply going through the motions. I still love to hear Maggie Smith’s flawless one-liners but otherwise its a bit like meeting a high school crush years later only to see he’s got a beer belly and ear hair.

Grantchester — The real star of Masterpiece this season. Love this series thus far. The protagonist, Sydney Chambers, is a delightful combination of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, only most haunted and better looking.

Broadchurch — Watched the first five minutes of the American version of this series and turned it off after having seen more than enough. Watched the British version in its entirety and wished there was more. The finale was disappointing but worth the ride.

The Fall (Series 2) — Gillian Anderson is amazing as always but this season lacked the tension of the first and fell flat for me.

The Honorable Woman — Maggie Gyllenhaal annoys me. Maggie Gyllenhaal with a stuck-up ice queen British accent is almost more than I can take.

Case Histories (Series 2) — Pure guilty pleasure, crime solving goodness.

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Snapshots

By Amy Spiegel

Brief comments on film by Amy.
Some old, some new.  Domestic films and foreign too.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a Snapshots.  So here’s a hefty dose of thoughts on films and shows I’ve seen recently.

The Great Gatsby —  I realize that when remaking a classic, one might struggle to do so in a fresh and new way but Baz Luhrmann tried a little too hard on this one. While visually beautiful, it felt more like a lavish, non-animated cartoon than a serious film. There’s over-the-top that works (such as Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom) and then there’s this. DiCaprio is always a standout, but the best thing I got out of this movie was a new song for my treadmill playlist (“A Little Party Never Hurt Nobody,” in case you are interested).

220px-Blue_Jasmine_posterBlue Jasmine — I don’t know where to start on this one, as a film or as an issue. I have long since disapproved of Woody Allen as a man and am certain that the declining quality of his art can be linked directly with his declining sense of right and wrong. But if I only watched movies written and directed by upstanding, moral people, where would that leave me? Reading a book, I suspect. But soon after watching Blue Jasmine, Jim directed me to this link: Open Letter from Dylan Farrow. I was shocked. While I was vaguely aware of the controversy surrounding the split between Allen and Farrow, I had always associated it with his involvement with her adopted but of-age daughter. I had no idea it stemmed from her much younger daughter’s allegations of abuse. I don’t know what sickens me more—Allen’s actions or Hollywood’s ambivalence to them. Blue Jasmine is the last Woody Allen film I will ever see. Having said that, Cate Blanchett is an acting genius. The film was completely dominated by her amazing performance. Just wish she kept better company.

Prisoners — This was a great thriller. I was folding laundry on the edge of my seat. Jackman is great as is Gyllenhaal. Wish the writing had been a little more consistent, as in the deeply religious but potty-mouthed Jackman, but it still raises some interesting questions about justifiable ends and means.

TheMaster2012PosterThe Master — What do Blue Jasmine, The Iron Lady and The Master all have in common? They are all mediocre movies featuring tremendous performances. Joaquin Phoenix was so disturbed (and disturbing) in this film, I could hardly watch. Yet I couldn’t turn away. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams were also fantastic, in a less creepy but still convincing way. Dumb and confusing movie but Phoenix is, indeed, a master.

Star Trek: Into the Darkness — What can I say? J. J. Abrams rocks. This film harkens back to the days of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, when our heroes didn’t take themselves too seriously, and we loved them for it. Dare I say this gives me hope for Star Wars: Episode VII?

Honorable and Not So Honorable Mentions — Luther: For those who just can’t get enough of the BBC’s detective stories; not quite ready to forgive for the way the series ended but still worth watching. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters: So bad. Oh so very, very bad; if only they had just looped the three or four minutes of Nathan Fillion’s performance I would have been satisfied. Captain Phillips: I always feel conflicted when a based-on-the-true-story film is good, but dishonest in it’s representation of the actual events. I also found the filmmakers attempts to create sympathy for the pirates annoying. Still any movie that engages you despite your knowing how everything is going to turn out must be worth the price of the ticket, especially when you checked it out from the library for free. Downton Abbey: Season 4: Ever so pleasantly surprised by the lack of social agenda in this year’s season. Will confess to having cheated and purchased the whole season on iTunes. Just couldn’t wait to see how it was going to all shake out. While I found Michelle Dockery as the Matthew-less Mary a little uneven, I was absolutely haunted by Joanne Froggatt’s brilliant performance and can’t speak highly enough of the director’s and writer’s agonizingly discreet treatment of the scene in which she is attacked. The Making of a Lady: Thought I was in for an hour or so of light-weight PBS watching and instead wanted to hide under the covers by the end. So, so good in the most terrifying of ways. Could have learned a lesson from Downton Abbey’s “imply don’t show” approach, but still very well done. Finally, The Americans: Ugh. I am supposed to identify with the dedication of Soviet spies who go around killing innocent people and lying up the wazoo while condemning Reagan and the FBI for their devotion to national and international security? Tell that to the millions who were tortured, imprisoned and killed during the same period back in the Motherland.

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Calling it Quits

By Amy Spiegel

My husband says I think too much. I am sure he is right but this is just an unfortunate aspect of my otherwise happy-go-lucky personality that I can’t seem to turn off.  (Did I mention I also struggle with sarcasm?)

Mixing this think-to-muchness part of me with the part that loves to wind down with a little escapist television can be a lethal combination. As much as it pains me, I need some sort of internally coherent logic that justifies watching something that others might consider either objectionable, pointless or both. Since we haven’t ever had cable, I have been limited to things I could catch while on vacation or visiting family—that is, until my iPad and precious TV apps came along. Oh, happy day.

Still, over the years I have been forced, with great pain and regret, to drop a number of shows for various reasons. Survivor was one of the first to go for all the bikinis and the justification of deceit and backstabbing. A number of shows have been weeded out for the constant promotion of the gay agenda. Despite their liberal leanings, I thought I would always have PBS. Masterpiece Theater, Antiques Roadshow and History Detectives all rank among the best of the best as far as I am concerned. Even better, who is going to criticize you for zoning out to PBS, home of Sesame Street and Frontline?

But even this safe haven has been breached of late and has me looking for cover. It started with a few Masterpiece Mysteries and Masterpiece Contemporaries that shocked me with their sexual content. Still, one hates to play the part of the prude. I was one of the first to hop on the now crowded Downton Abbey bandwagon. Sure there was Thomas but it seemed a side story worthy of ignoring. Over the course of the last two seasons, however, I have become increasingly uncomfortable with the shows apologetic campaign for homosexuality, along with other plot lines that seem to be headed for adultery.

Last year I thought I had found a show with an incorruptible premise—Call the Midwife. How could a show about delivering babies in 1950s East End London go south? Half the characters are nuns, for crying out loud! Imagine my surprise, then, when suddenly nuns are justifying incest, nurses are casually referring to premarital sex, and on the last episode everyone is turning a blind eye to abortion.

This last episode was it for me. Recently I have felt a deep shame for our nation’s participation in the killing of the innocent and while I don’t know where this shame will lead me, the least I can do is turn off the TV. If I could, I would call the midwife and tell her how mystified I am at the simultaneous celebration of the miracle of life and the justification of ending that life before it has begun. I guess this show and many like it suffer from the same warring factions as my brain. Hopefully, good will win out in the end, but I am not holding my breath.

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Snapshots

By Amy Spiegel

Brief comments on film by Amy.
Some old, some new.  Domestic films and foreign too.

Maybe it’s the spring time sunshine, but I am pleased to present an almost entirely positive set of reviews to you this month. I have more negative things to say about the previews shown beforehand than the films themselves. What’s up with showing Footloose previews before Hugo, Mr. Movie-Preview-Approval Dude?!?

Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows — I am not much one for action-adventure films but the older boys have been bugging me to see this sequel since Christmas Day, when they returned from the theater with their dad. So over Spring Break, we lucked and found a discount theater that was showing it. Of course, one of my boys (Sam) decided he didn’t need to actually accompany me to the movie and went with his friends to see So We Bought a Zoo. Bailey went with me, but I am pretty sure that was because I almost cried. But I digress. Saw the movie, found it very entertaining. Definitely worthy of a discount theater viewing. As a side note, I may have mentioned before a Sherlock Holmes mystery series by Laurie R. King. Also very entertaining. A good beach read if you are in the market for one.

Hugo — I fear my experience of this one was a bit diminished by the fact that the kids watched it…twice, before I got a chance. So I had picked up bits and pieces while straightening the living room and emptying the dishwasher. Still, it was a beautiful film. Pure and beautiful.

The Hunger Games — So we have been waiting for this film…f..o..r..e..v..e..r! We have been making do by watching the trailers over and over. Jim even read the book in a day and half in order to go with the older boys and I to the theater. (That’s the Spiegel, or more to the point Mom Spiegel, rule—you don’t get to see the movie unless you have read the book first.) When people asked me if I liked the film, I kept saying “If you liked the book, you will like the film.” This maybe isn’t the ringing endorsement it might seem. The movie is good but it is regrettable when filmmakers cower so to book fans that they compromise the movie in order to stick with the book. Learn from Harry Potter and make a good movie that stands on its own. If you do, it will endless loop back and forth as fans of the movie are then drawn to the book and then to the movie, etc.

Crazy, Stupid, Love — Hated it and don’t really have much to say beyond that. I went in loving Steve Carell and still do, but hate, hate, hate it when as my friend said “There is a complete lack of character consistency.”

Honorable and Not So Honorable Mentions — Moneyball: Enjoyed it more than I thought I would, but what is going on with Brad Pitt’s face?  Downton Abbey: Season 2: The writers scared me a bit midway through the season but they pulled it off in the end. Jim is still desperately awaiting its arrival on Netflix. I told him PBS was pulling it off their website, but did he listen?  Pillars of the Earth: Fascinating history lesson but I could have done with so much cleavage. Somehow it takes away from the horror of the raping and pillaging when all those being raped and pillaged are suspiciously attractive. Awake and Up All Night: These are my two new favorite shows. One leaves my mind teetering on the brink of confusion, the other makes me laugh so hard I pee my pants. It’s a messy but satisfying combo.

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Snapshots

By Amy Spiegel

Brief comments on film by Amy.
Some old, some new.  Domestic films and foreign too.

The Social Network — Just when you think Hollywood has breathed its last, it coughs up something as well done as Social Network. The sexual content seems thrown in for “fun” but otherwise I can’t think of anything bad to say about this movie. Perfectly cast, well acted, and the editing is brilliant. I am not usually a fan of flashing between the past and present, but this style added energy and the filmmakers refrained from winking at the audience in anticipation of future events. While I felt entirely confirmed in my aversion to Facebook, I am definitely this film’s friend.

The Double Lives of Veronique — Over the years I have learned to decode certain phrases that adorn film covers. Erotic means “more boobs than the French Riviera in summer.” Enigmatic means “nearly incomprehensible.” I can take an erotic film if it is boobs with meaning and therefore light on the incomprehensible bits or vice versa, but I don’t care for a film that is both at once. I had high hopes for this film from the director of the Red, White and Blue series as well as Decalogue. Maybe I lack the intelligence to understand it, or maybe I am a prude, or maybe I am an unintelligent prude. But this one had me scratching my head and blushing at the same time. This movie’s arrival at our home was a result of my resolution to watch more high quality films this year. Guess I’ll have go back to films in my native tongue.

A Room With a View (2007 TV Version) — I have so little to say about this poorly directed, ugly stepsister of the original Merchant and Ivory production, I have already said too much. Not only is this movie unworthy of even a Redbox rental (the one star, thumb tilting down rating at the Spiegel household), I wouldn’t bother checking it out of my local library if the librarian pulled it off the shelf for me and forcibly placed it in my bag. If this is the best view they have, call the bellboy cuz I’m checking out.

Downton Abbey — High art it may not be, but it has many other qualities I admire: a) it is being released in January and I live in Indiana where other forms of entertainment include “Spot the Longest Icicle” and “Whose Nose Hair Froze the Fastest”; b) the actors are British, wear period clothing and stroll through picturesque backdrops that scream of Darcy and Miss Bennett; and c) did I mention it is winter in Indiana? True, one is forced to sit through the obnoxiously condescending introductory mini-lectures by actors who, if lucky, have only a high school diploma and impeccable cheekbones as proof of their superior intellect. I suppose it makes me a political hypocrite to love Masterpiece Theater in all its overly subsidized glory. But despite its being a slap in the face of the free market, when given the choice of watching well-produced, well-acted masterpieces with slightly disguised political overtones or watching poorly-produced, poorly-acted duds with overt political overtones, I’m going with the socialists on this one.

Honorable Mentions: Lost: Season Six—Finally finished it. I don’t think it was a good thing that I had to turn to Google in order to understand the ending. Too many unanswered questions for me but overall worth the ride.  Undercover Boss—I’m a big fan of this show; cry every single time. Night Train to Munich—A great classic WWII thriller.