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The Fall Film Challenge: Jana’s picks

August 24, 2015 by Jana 45 Comments

A few weeks ago I noticed some of my favorite bloggers were participating in a fall film challenge. I figured I wouldn’t be able to do it because 25 movies by November 30 is pretty much impossible but then with some encouraging peer pressure and an acknowledgement that there’s no way in hell I’d get it done and that’s okay, I thought I’d give it a shot. At the very least I could assemble a list and work through some of the movies left on the AFI 100 Best Films since watching all of those is on my 40 by 40 (which, at this point, needs a major overhaul).

Picking movies was hard, y’all. It nearly broke my brain. But I did it and this is what I came up with and also, please don’t judge me too hard on some of them because yes, I like baseball and have never seen Field of Dreams. Also, finding a movie starring someone with the same name as me? HAHAHAHAHA. That was superfun. I did it, though, but I’m not looking forward to watching it.

Some of the rules: had to be a movie you’ve never seen. No duplicates (so I couldn’t use one movie in two categories). Has to have an IMDB page. No made for TV movies.

I told you. HARD.

So here we go. Jana’s Fall Film Challenge List. 

  1. A movie set in NYC–King Kong*. The Kyle Chandler version. Because Kyle Chandler is in it. But I’m counting it towards my AFI list
  2. A movie featuring hot air balloons–Around the World in 80 Days
  3. A movie with a child as a main character–American Graffiti*
  4. A Disney film–Mary Poppins. No, I’ve never seen it. I know.
  5. Set in Egypt/with an Egyptian character/Egyptian actor–The Mummy. I like Brendan Fraser. #noshame
  6. A close friend’s or family member’s favorite–Duck Soup* This is one of my dad’s favorites. If I can’t find it, Blazing Saddles. Also for my dad.
  7. The word “great” in the title–The Great Train Robbery
  8. Starring Harrison Ford–Raiders of the Lost Ark* No, I’ve never seen this one either. I know.
  9. An idiot as a main character–Get Hard. I’m pretty sure anything with Will Ferrell qualifies.
  10. On Levi Strauss’s list–Rear Window* Aiming for the original but the remake will have to do.
  11. About a knight–First Knight.
  12. A love story–Love, Actually. I told you there were lots of common movies on the list I’ve never seen.
  13. Something miraculous–Field of Dreams Judging me is totally appropriate at this point
  14. Same name as you–Approaching Midnight (actress: Jana Kramer)
  15. About the Olympics–Munich or Chariots of Fire
  16. On Time magazine’s list of newspaper movies–Zodiac
  17. Question in the title–Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*
  18. 90% or more on rotten tomatoes–Serpico or The Last Picture Show*
  19. Superhero movie–Iron Man. I do love RDJ
  20. Subtitles–Amelie
  21. Featuring unicorns–Blade Runner*
  22. Personal victory–The Martian. Fiction, yes, but the man grew potatoes from his own poop. On Mars. Because he scienced the shit out of it.
  23. Black or white in the title–Black Swan or Meet Joe Black
  24. Set in a country you’d like to visit–Green Street Hooligans Charlie Hunnam, pre-Jax Teller. Alrighty.
  25. Set in a zoo–We Bought a Zoo. Two Matt Damon movies on the list? Don’t mind if I do.

*denotes movie on the AFI list of 100 Greatest American Films of All-Time

For all the rules, visit the original post: The Fall Film Challenge

So what about you guys? Are you doing it? Have you seen any of these? Any I should replace?

 

 

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Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Bloggers, challenges, Entertainment

This week in…: Volume 28

August 21, 2015 by Jana 26 Comments

Weekly recap headed your way in a different format because it’s good to change things up.

this week

  1. We went to the Mets/Orioles game on Tuesday night. After a brief delay due to the threat of inclement weather, my beloved Mets beat the Orioles 5-3, keeping my streak of seeing the Mets win at Camden Yards alive.
  2. It took us 5 minutes to get out of Baltimore following the game. Granted we left midway through the 9th but 5 minutes from arriving at our car to getting on the highway home was nothing short of a miracle worth discussing because I am old and old people talk about traffic.
  3. I am beyond looking forward to this show on TNT, Public Morals, that premieres on Tuesday. Not only does it look AWESOME but also, it has Michael Rapaport. I love Michael Rapaport. It started back in the 90s, grew during his Boston Public days and has pretty much reached a point where I get giggly school girl excited whenever he’s in something. So much is the fangirlness that I made my daughter watch the cartoon version of Pound Puppies because he voiced one of the dogs. #sorrynotsorry

    public morals
    Do you see him? He’s in the blue stripe in the middle. YAY!
  4. Currently reading an ARC of Girl Waits with Gun which is not only an amazing book but based on a true story of some badass women. I also finished Every Last Word and Inside the O’Briens. Full recap on Tuesday, September 8 for Show Us Your Books.
  5. I cannot stop eating zucchini fritters. Not even kidding, I eat them every single day. In other news, this is probably why I’m fat.
  6. Speaking of fat, the husband and I decided we’re going to walk–not run because let’s not get carried away–a 10K in the spring so we started training for that. It feels good to have a fitness goal again. This also might offset the 277 pounds of fried zucchini I’ve eaten the last month.
  7. Had a dentist appointment on Wednesday. No cavities for this gal!
  8. I can’t not mention this–Josh Duggar. Oh, my. I want to say I’m surprised by the cheating and the porn but I’m actually not. It seems par for the course with him and probably, in part, had something to do with the fact that he lived under the oppressive rule of his asshole father for so long that once given the freedom, he didn’t know what to do with it and wanted to explore what was previously forbidden. This is not to excuse the behavior as infidelity is reprehensible and to do it in the manner he did is just disgusting and I am pleased as punch that he got caught. And, if I’m being honest, I am deriving some sort of sick pleasure at seeing him and his parents freefall into disgrace given the hatred and intolerance that they preach and the superiority complex in which they conducted themselves. But I feel terrible for his wife. I can’t even begin to imagine the shame and humiliation she feels on top of having to cope with all of this in the public eye. It’s hard enough doing it in private but the vultures are circling and you know they’re dying to see what she does. Speculation will run amok. And, while I think she needs to take her kids and leave, I have a sinking feeling she won’t for reasons that have to do with her faith, what she’s been indoctrinated to think, and maybe, possibly, money. There is no way to explain away Josh’s actions as an adult. But it’s going to be interesting to watch them try. (I also planned to rant about The Fat Jew and plagiarism and stealing jokes and content but my friend Ali already did that and probably better than I could so you should just read what she wrote instead)
  9. Favorite internet reads/awesomes of the week–The story of how one guy used Monopoly to help WWII POWs escape. This tableware for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s. Kids like this one. And while I have zero desire to ever go back to high school, should I ever need to go all Billy Madison or whatever Drew Barrymore’s name was in Never Been Kissed, this list would give me something to think about (although I do like to think that I wasn’t as big of an asshole as the author of the post seems to have been. #yesimjudging)
  10. This funny, sent to me by the husband:

traffic

 

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Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Entertainment, favorites, reading, weekly wrap-up

This week in…: Volume 26

August 7, 2015 by Jana 35 Comments

this week

This week in reading…Finished Laura Vanderkam’s I Know How She Does It, halfway through I Regret Nothing, picked up Confess, and started Love May Fail. Pinch hitting for two of my original Literary Ladies books are I Regret Nothing (for Modern Romance in memoir/book written by a celebrity) and Remember Mia (for Radiant Angel in suspense/mystery/thriller). Show Us Your Books is this Tuesday, August 11! Best day of the month, amirite?

This week in book to movie news…Elle Fanning is playing Violet in the adaptation of All the Bright Places and Jennifer Lawrence was cast as Rosie in the adaptation of The Rosie Project. I’m okay with the first one but honestly, can we please stop putting Jennifer Lawrence in every single thing? I’m sort of getting sick of seeing her face in all the movies.

This week in things that bother me…people who don’t shut the fuck up in movie theaters. Or turn off their phones. People who blindly believe everything they’re told without bothering to do any sort of investigating on their own. Inappropriate oversharing all over social media. Asking a question on aforementioned social media and someone liking the question instead of actually responding (seriously, why? Are you happy for me about my ignorance? Is it a good question? Did you do it by mistake? Someone please explain because I genuinely don’t get it). Donald Trump’s existence.

This week in things my husband says…Me: Hey, the second movie in the Divergent series is On Demand. We should watch it. It’s called Insurgent. Him: And the third one is called Detergent: Let’s Clean This Shit Up.

This week in things my husband says, part deux…Me: I have Goldfish in my purse. Weird. (Note: this is weird because they were cheese Goldfish and the child hates those). Him: I have SPAM in my desk. Me: No you don’t. Him: Yes, I do. Pat gave me his SPAM swag from the conference. I use it as a threat.

This week in things that are awesome…I haven’t seen much good news to spread around but in things that are good news to me, the Mets have regained first place. I know it’s most likely temporary but I’ll take it.

This week in internet reads…Mindy Kaling’s piece in The New Yorker, a commentary about recent TV show tropes. For my travel loving yet budget minded friends, Buzzfeed assembled a list of 13 affordable countries to travel to. All You magazine has a list of 27 essentials you should always have in your car (very practical, actually). Mashable’s post on this guy, a real life Lazlo Hollyfeld (and if you get that reference, we’re BFFs now). And finally, if you didn’t already know, reading is the best hobby ever and Bustle came up with 11 reasons why (although there are probably a dozen more).

This week in funnies…

FullSizeRender (18) FullSizeRender (17) FullSizeRender (16) FullSizeRender (15) FullSizeRender (14)

 

Have a great weekend! I’ll be back on Monday with another bookworm interview (moving up a day due to Show Us Your Books).

 

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Filed Under: Life Tagged With: books, Entertainment, favorites, weekly wrap-up

This week in…: Volume 25

July 24, 2015 by Jana 31 Comments

this week

This week in reading…Finished Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac and Shotgun Lovesongs. Started A Little Life. Picked up Inside the O’Briens and two books from NetGalley including Girl Waits with Gun, which I’m excited to read. I’m 3 shy of completing the Literary Ladies Summer Reading Challenge and the next Show Us Your Books is August 11th so mark your calendars and start drafting your posts!

This week in fashion…well, sort of. It more should be “this week in new clothes because everything I own sucks” but I bought 4 maxi skirts so now I’m mildly trendy even if I trip over the bottom of the skirts repeatedly because #short

This week in TV…Thankfully “Last Comic Standing” and Denis Leary’s new show are great because “True Detective” fucking sucks and “Hell on Wheels”, well, I don’t know what they’re doing there. And it’s going to be forever before all the Netflix shows I like come back on so for now, it’ll continue to be minimal TV for me. Speaking of Netflix, anyone have an ETA for “Longmire”? The internet is not helpful.

This week in controversy…“Trophy” t-shirts. Diner owners who yell at children. More crap about the Duggars. Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj fighting on Twitter and Katy Perry jumping in. Can we seriously stop caring about this stuff and spending so much energy on it? Please. It’s utter nonsense and the fact that we’re more wrapped up in crap like this instead of worrying about important things, real things like what happened to Sandra Bland or how we can get Donald Trump to shut the fuck up and go away, makes me sad for our country.

This week in things that are awesome…I had a whole list of things to share but then this came across my screen and it is better than everything else I’m going to let it stand on its own. Facebook doesn’t always suck and it saved the lives of these two dogs.

This week in internet reading…This oldie but goodie from Mental Floss, 7 Book Dedications that Basically Say “Screw You”. Science confirms that cursing is good for the soul (I fucking knew it!). Being busy is not something to be proud of and this post gives 21 great reasons why. And this post and the hashtag #IWishMyTeacherKnew is heartbreaking and makes you think about what’s really going on with the kids you know.

This week in funnies…FullSizeRender (13) FullSizeRender (12) FullSizeRender (11) FullSizeRender (10) FullSizeRender (9)

Have a great weekend! I’m not sure what I’m doing yet because it’s the first weekend of the husband’s summer vacation and we’ve planned nothing! Speaking of his vacation, posting will be erractic, if at all, next week because #poorplanning so if I don’t see you next week, I’ll see you in August!

P.S. You can always follow along with my terrible pictures on Instagram if you’re curious to know what we decide to do.

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Filed Under: Life Tagged With: books, Entertainment, favorites, reading, weekly wrap-up

This week in…:Volume 24

July 10, 2015 by Jana 12 Comments

This is one of those weeks where it gets to the end and you’re left thinking “where did this week go? What did I do, exactly?” Well, if you’re me, the answer is not a whole hell of a lot. Besides reading, getting acclimated to my new job (which I LOVE), and playing some games on my iPad, the week seems to have flittered by. It’s okay, I suppose. We’re all entitled to weeks like this. this week

This week in reading…Finished Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town and Summerlong. Started Saint Anything for the Literary Ladies Book Club. Picked up Shotgun Lovesongs and A Little Life. I’ve read 4/10 in the LL Summer Reading Challenge with 3 more on my nightstand. Finally, don’t forget, this Tuesday, July 14 is Show Us Your Books! Looking forward to learning about what you guys read!

This week in spending money…Or, not spending money. You know those weeks where it seems like everything you need or want to buy is on sale? That was my week this week. The highlights were the free bag of dog food for hitting our number in the frequent buyer program (and, at $50/bag, this was a nice treat) and Essie nail polish being on sale at Walgreen’s, plus you got a free nail treatment with your purchase of one bottle. So I finally bought Licorice and got a new apricot cuticle oil. For $5.99

This week in travel planning…Being a lady of modest means, I have to plan my travel roughly a year in advance. Which is why I started pricing rentals in OBX for our family vacation next year (or Cape Cod or Myrtle Beach. I’m open to suggestions) as well as planning for the Book Expo America Conference in Chicago and, even though it’s a little short notice, the Book Riot Conference in November as long as football season is over and the child is on break from cheerleading. I’m going with Steph so if you plan to attend, let us know and we’ll all hang out together!

This week in things that are awesome…The Confederate Flag, or in an effort to not start yet another argument with the husband, the flag that has come to represent the Confederacy, is coming down from the Capitol in South Carolina. Now, I don’t care what you do with this flag in your own time. Wear it, sleep wrapped up in, tattoo it on your ass…doesn’t matter to me. But something that symbolizes hatred and institutionalized racism has no business flying in front of a government building. We can debate this if you’d like but you won’t change my mind. I will add this, though. Removing the “Dukes of Hazzard” from the air because it’s on the General Lee? Absolute overreaction and utter nonsense.

This week in TV…Did you guys watch the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest? No? Well, you’re luckier than I am because it’s revolting but the announcer? He is priceless and he needs to announce all the things from now on. Anytime anyone ever needs to walk into a room, this guy needs to be there calling it. He’s hilarious.

This week in internet reads…I know how much you guys love this part of the post because distractions so hopefully I pulled some good ones for you this week. This excerpt from Amy Shumer’s interview with Glamour magazine and while I don’t generally read or buy such magazines, I’m looking forward to reading the interview in its entirety. I hope they discuss more than just her appearance. This post from Lifehacker debunking some common myths about forming habits. Then there was this one discussing the subtle art of not giving a fuck. And finally, 11 charts that sum up being a book nerd.

This week in funnies…scrabble name spelling crazy underground housekeeping

Have a wonderful weekend! Make sure to come back on Monday for Interview with a bookworm featuring Kristin (it’s moved up a day because of Show Us Your Books)!

 

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Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Entertainment, favorites, weekly wrap-up

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Jana

I'm Jana ...

A book reading, nail polish wearing, binge watching, music loving, dog owning, reluctant cheer mom.
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