Eagles Over the Kennebec

Yesterday, Steve and I signed several hundred Saltations, then took advantage of a free movie pass to see Ondine at Railroad Square Cinema (home of the Maine International Film Festival!)  If you have a chance to see Ondine, do that.  I’m kind of a sucker for selkies, myself, but you don’t have to be a selkie freak to enjoy the movie.  Also — how refreshing to have a disabled child as a central character who’s a know-it-all and a bit of a bitch.  Anyhow, see this movie, even if you don’t have a free pass.

Today, I have a rather long to-do list, mixing up mundane items like clearing out the cabinet under the kitchen bathroom sink so Steve can replace the washer in the hot water faucet (at least, let’s hope it’s as simple as that),  doing the laundry and the dishes, mounting a compare-and-contrast with the Saltation databases, bringing together something Very Exciting that I’ll tell you about later.  Oh, and writing.

It’s raining here; Mozart has already read the morning comics and is having an early morning nap on the papers next to my keyboard.

See y’all later.

Originally published at Sharon Lee, Writer. You can comment here or there.

Easy Virtue: (2008) I have no acquaintance with the Noel Coward play from which this movie was adapted, so I can't say how faithful it is to the original. My guess is, not very. Also, the blurb insists that the film is a "romantic comedy," to which again I say, not very. Those caveats made...

In the period between the end of the first World War and the beginning of the second, John Whittaker, a young and naive Englishman, returns home to the family's estate with his new bride, an American woman considerably his elder. Larita (Larry) is a race car driver, having most recently snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as the first driver to cross the finish line at Monaco, and immediately disqualified as the winner because she lacked the appropriate gender markers. Johnny's family consists of his embittered mother, two sisters -- one perpetually drunk, the other merely malicious -- and a distant father spiritually damaged by the war, brutally mistreated and sidelined by his wife.

The newlyweds' plan, as far as Larry knows it, is to stop for a few days and then continue to London, where she will race and Johnny will take up employment. Mother is not pleased any of these plans, and a battle for the possession of Johnny begins.

Most of the characters were annoying, on different notes, and Mrs. Whittaker was the embodiment of poison. Johnny is callow and easily swayed; his sisters toads. Larry is willful and unable to bend; she is only sympathetic in comparison to her nemesis. Mr. Whittaker is dark, disengaged and by far the most interesting character.

Despite all of the above, I liked the movie; particularly the ending, though it, and the particulars of Larry's Dark Secret, make me believe that this adaptation is not entirely true to the original text.

The Brothers Bloom