Television – Page 2 – Mimi's Thoughts

Pairs

George Clooney and Julia Roberts have always seemed like a beautiful pair for me.

My favourite Hollywood pair remains Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, I fell in love with the pair in the movie The Wedding Singer and then in 50 First Dates and then in Blended but I really loved and enjoyed the humour and chemistry between Clooney and Roberts in Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve.

As a movie lover, and especially a lover of period dramas, romcoms and the likes, one thing that draws me to a movie is the pairing of the hero and heroine.

Only a few days ago, I came across another poster with the names Clooney and Roberts smiling back at me. I didn’t hesitate to click on it.

I must admit that the movie didn’t stand out as much as I expected it to but I totally connected with the emotions and unspoken thoughts Clooney kept sending out in the movie. He played a divorced dad who had to work hand in hand with his ex-wife (Roberts) to prevent their daughter from getting married to a Bali local.

The pair who never seem to see eye to eye on any matter must learn to work together on this one thing they both agree on. Clooney’s character calls out to me as he seems to be a person who is in touch with his feelings and is also honest with himself as well.

Overall, this new movie ‘Ticket to Paradise’ is okay and can be viewed on a calm evening with friends or alone.

A few other pairs that drew me into a movie are:

Julia Roberts and Richards Gere – Pretty woman
Gabrielle Union and Morris Chestnut – The Brothers
Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield – The Photograph

Some pairs didn’t sit well with me are:

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds – The Proposal
Salma Hayek and Matthew Perry – Fools rush in

One on-screen pair I still can’t place in my head but totally love is the Renee Zellwerger and Collin Firth from Bridget Jones Diary, maybe the mix with Hugh Grant and then Patrick Dempsey just made my head spin.

Have you any on-screen pairs you love? Share them with me, I would love to know.

Anastasia

I was raised by a catholic mother. She made sure my siblings and I went through all the processes required to be a “full catholic” ; baptismal classes, baptism, communion classes, first Holy communion, confirmation classes and confirmation. I didn’t get to complete my own process, I didn’t get confirmed and because of that, I have only one English name while my sisters have two each.

They have two because upon confirmation, a person is usually given a new name, different from the one given at baptism. This name is supposed be a name of a saint. Although lately, I have heard some confirmation names that don’t sound any bit like any Saint I have heard of. I guess everything is changing these days, even church rules.

In 1988 I was baptised and I was given the name Anastasia. I loved it with all my heart. Somehow, some time in my path to disvover myself, I began to dislike the name. I shortened it to one of the cool versions I had heard and then I became Stacey. Hmmmm.

I have found my child self once again lately in some things I have been participating in, and one of the things that this found child misses is the name Anastasia. I love the name all over again.

As it is, our minds work in line with the universe. The universe perceives and receives our thoughts and words and it sends similar things our way… and for some time now, I have been seeing a lot of things about people called Anastasia, but the one that caught my attention the most is a certain fake Anastasia, Anna Anderson Alias Franziska Schanzkowska. She was known as an imposter.

She gained popularity by claiming to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia.

The real Duchess Anastasia was assumed to have escaped an assassination of her entire family. She was the youngest daughter of the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He reigned from 1st November, 1894 to 15th March, 1917.

Movies tell the best stories, so I will recommend you look this up and enjoy.

Anastasia : The mystery of Anna

You can watch this movie on :

Amazon Prime video
Apple TV
Showmax
And a few other streaming services

The movie has a number of Emmys and Golden globes.

If you are a reader, I will recommend the book titled ‘The Riddle of Anna Anderson’ by Peter Kurth

Is there something you thought you didn’t like but lately, seems to appear on your “I miss you” list? What steps did you or have you taken to get it back? Or is it too late?

I’m wondering about my Anastasia and how I can reconnect with the name and the girl again. I miss her.

Adapted for television

The first time it happened was with Robert Ludlum’s ‘The Bourne Identity‘. I remember feeling a big wave of confusion and disappointment. This was about 20 years ago.

Then it happened again. It literally ruined the book for me. I watched the entire Hulu TV series ‘Little Fires Everywhere’, regretting every minute of it. I had just finished the novel with the same title a few days earlier. Shortly after I started reading it, I had found out that it had been developed for television…and so I thought it would be a wonderful idea to give it a shot. Like I said, I regret that decision.

Being my usual curious self, i decided to find our why these adaptations needed to have these changes at all. It turns out, reading and viewing are two completely different things and must be presented differently. One point I agreed with was the fact that if a book was to be made exactly as it was written, it would be boring for many because people watch television for entertainment and not to be bored.

Lately I have learned to take adaptations with an open mind, I have seen a few unnecessary changes in some adaptations but i must admit that I have come accross some very interesting ones too.

No matter how open my mind has become, I seem to have a problem with a particular change I have encountered in a Television adaptation. The creators of the beautiful TV series ‘The Chosen’ thought it would be wonderful idea for Simon the Zealot (one of Jesus’ disciples) to be the brother of the man by the pool of Bethesda. In as much as this makes for a good twist, it seems to be messing with my head. I found myself searching high and low for any clue to where this may have been mentioned previously in the Bible. I guess I will have to live with it.

I have made a small list of some of the books that have been made into movies that I really liked;

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
Normal People by Sally

Read some or watch some, either way you will love them.

Which ones have you seen or read? What do you think about them?

FATHER OF THE BRIDE

As a TV screen lover, I have a dislike for things I consider to be unnecessary sequels and repeated titles of movies and TV series. I hear you…asking what I mean by unnecessary sequels. I won’t explain, however, I will mention a few examples… Sex and the City 2, Dirty Dancing; Havana Nights and The Blues Brothers (2000).

As a huge Andy Garcia lover and fan, I jumped at the movie Father of the Bride 2022 the moment I saw the cast. Ordinarily, after seeing the “first” Father of the Bride and its sequel staring Steve Martin and Diane Keaton, my mind may have conditioned itself to be unreceptive to any other movie with that title because I would have assumed that nothing else could be better. I decided to do a little research about the brand new version and I was pretty surprised to find in my search that what I thought was the first ever ‘Father of the Bride’ was in fact the second film with the title.

The first ever was a 1950 film starring Elizabeth Taylor as the young bride. It was a film based on a novel of the same name, written by Edward Streeter. I immediately made a note to see this first edition and also read the novel. I have done the former and I loved it. The father of the bride (played by Spencer Tracey) made the film really interesting with his sense of humor and wit.

The second film was released in 1991 with Steve Martin Playing the role of the father of the bride. This particular production had a sequel in 1995 (Father of The Bride Part II). I learnt that it was a remake of the 1951 film; Father’s Little Dividend. Father’s Little Dividend is a sequel to The Father of Bride (1950).

In the latest film, Garcia plays a very reluctant and hesitant father who must come to terms with the fact that his daughter is not only getting married but is also moving away to Mexico. Although he is not as funny as the previous fathers of the bride, his character and charm will draw you into this film.

All three versions are beautiful and tell almost the same “father of the Bride” story and I must admit that I am undecided about picking my favourite. One thing is for sure, Garcia still has that charm in him and I really got a good laugh throughout this latest movie.

I would recommend all three any day.