Tag: The Intouchables

Sunday Snapshot 3/24/13

A weird work schedule (really? it’s always weird!) has me feeling very Saturday-ish today, so I have to get in the Sunday mode!  Especially since I have to work early Monday morning!  Then a few days off before I work my very first holiday – Easter weekend.  I hope to make it to the interfaith service at the beautiful Chapel at St. Mary’s, at least for part of it.  Sunday morning can’t be that busy in the Emergency Department, right?

Anyway, not much to fill you in on except that I watched the movie The Sessions last night – and it was just so good!

The Sessions
The Sessions (Photo credit: Librari Kameleon)

It’s based on a true story about a man who is a journalist and a poet and lives most of his day in an iron lung.  He interviews people with disabilities about their sex lives and then wishes to lose his virginity.  It’s a nice story about this humorous and intelligent man, his relationship with his priest, his caregivers and the sex surrogate he hires after seeing a sex therapist.    It’s about love and life and poetry.  Good stuff!

Here’s a link to the article written by Mark O’Brien after his sex surrogate experience.  I haven’t read it all, but will!

Next in my DVD player is The Intouchables – a story about a person who becomes a quadriplegic after a paragliding accident.   He’s very wealthy and hires a man from the projects to be his caregiver, and boy do they have fun!  Living life to the fullest.  Good stuff!

Triple these movies with the book I just finished for book club – We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg – and there’s a theme!  I love Elizabeth Berg books and this was no exception.  This book is about a woman who contracts polio late in her pregnancy and delivers a healthy baby while in an iron lung.  She remains paralyzed with full feeling in her body (like Mark O’Brien in The Sessions) and raises her daughter to be a strong independent woman.  It’s a fictional account of an actual person’s life (ala The Sessions, as well!).  Good stuff!

Good stuff that is coming up:

Hard boiled traditional Russian Easter eggs
Hard boiled traditional Russian Easter eggs (Photo credit: Steve White2008)
  • Planning an Anna Karenina viewing party with a few people (most of my fellow-walkietalkie peeps!) who love classical literature and may have started the book or intend to read the book sometime!  I’m the only one to have finished it.  🙂  We’re having beef stroganoff, pickled beets, white Russian cupcakes, and vodka (of course!)!  Love a good theme and in this early spring, Russian literature is a good one!
  • Some fun Aunt-related activities coming up this week, including a Seder dinner and a RockTown tour! And it’s a niece’s birthday today so my gift is a shopping trip, hopefully this week!
  • It will be weird to work on Easter weekend, but I try to remember that no one wants to be hospitalized on Easter, either, so I will do my best to be a blessing to those I see!
  • Book club on April 2 for We Are All Welcome Here – with a 60s feel!  Pizza burgers, potato chips, a classic dessert, Coke in bottles… good stuff!
  • Marissa got accepted into graduate school, so we will be exploring housing options in the Cities soon!  That is something fun to look forward to!
  • And I’ve gotta work on my list for 44 Things: Q3 as it is right around the corner!

But first, today I’m getting together with friend Beth to celebrate her birthday, which was on the first day of Spring!  Yay for friend time!

How about you?  What does your Sunday look like?  What are you looking forward to?

Happy Sunday, all!

Again with the Movies

I guess my movie-going and movie-watching has slowed a little since early summer, but I have seen some great movies.  I think I saw the best one this weekend in the theater – “The Intouchables.”  This is a French gem which is based on true events about an affluent quadriplegic, Philippe, who hires Driss — a young Parisian petty criminal — to be his caregiver.  They are an unconventional pair – the classical-music-loving cerebral man in the mansion and the pot-smoking man from the streets – and they both are changed by the bond that they form.

I loved this part of the movie, where Philippe knows he will be bored by his “surprise” birthday party, but Driss brings joy to the evening.

I think I’ve gotta get me some Earth, Wind and Fire!

I also loved the scene where they went to the opera.  Just classic.  See it, if you can!!

Other movies seen at my local theatre include “Hope Springs,” “The Campaign,” and “Step Up: The Revolution.”

“Hope Springs” was not what we were anticipating – very much NOT a romantic comedy.  Serious stuff, relationships!

“The Campaign” had some pretty funny moments, but was not great.  Fun night out with the kids next door.

“Step Up: The Revolution” was my first Step Up experience!  It was one of those movies that I smiled all the way through – sometimes because of delight but mostly because it was just so cheesy.

Eagle vs Shark
Eagle vs Shark (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On DVD I really liked “Peter’s Friends” – a British “Big Chill” – and “Stardust” – a mishmash of “Princess Bride” and “The Witches of Eastwick.”  🙂  I also enjoyed Jemaine in “Eagle vs. Shark,” a quirky New Zealand movie.  And it was fun to see “The Importance of Being Earnest” after reading it and listening to the audiobook!  Oscar Wilde is so witty!

I’ve been following bloggers who are at the Toronto Film Festival and started creating a list of movies to watch out for.  Top of the list for me are ‘Sleepwalk With Me” and “Safety Not Guaranteed.”  Also, “Argo,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” “Pitch Perfect,” and “Anna Karenina.”  There are others I want to see but this is a good start!

Next on my “agenda” are some musical events!  First, Jeremy Messersmith’s Supper Club tour in Rochester Monday night (!) with Marissa.  Can’t wait! It will be unlike anything I’ve ever done before.  Then Glen Hansard at First Ave on Sept 29 and some great musical events in NYC!  Woot woot!

So much to look forward to…

What are you looking forward to this fall?

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