January 2

Happy New Year!

At Theaters:

Saving Mr. Banks -  Emma Thompson gives a convincing Oscar worthy performance as P. L. Travers the author of Mary Poppins in this true story about her relationship with Walt Disney. Disney spent twenty years trying to convince Travers to turn over the rights of her book so a film could be made.  The film shows how Mary Poppins is a parallel to Travers childhood and does this by flashing back from her childhood in Australia to the 70's.  Tom Hanks as Disney and Colin Farrrell as her father are very good in their roles as well.  It was a very heartwarming film and one I highly recommend.

American Hustle - This movie has had Oscar buzz surrounding it and I can see why.  It is a fun, touching and intelligently made film.   Not sure why Jennifer Lawrence is getting all the hoopla as Amy Adams is just as good if not better in this film.  Bradley Cooper as the FBI agent and Jeremy Renner as the mayor do a wonderful job with their roles, but the real star of the film is Christian Bale playing the con artist Irving Rosenfeld.  Other supporting players round out this amazing cast including Louis C.K. Many of these actors starred in previous films by the director and they gel together to make a wonderful ensemble.   A famous actor has a small cameo and doesn't get screen credit, see if you recognize him.  The story is loosely based on the Abscam scandal of the early '80's when an FBI agent exposes corruption among several members of Congress in New Jersey and PA. Some call this film a drama, some a comedy - I'll split the difference and call it a dramedy.  No matter what you call it, it is worth seeing.  

As many of you know Sy and I spent the Christmas week on a cruise on the Celebrity Summit cruising to St Croix, St Kitts, St. Thomas, Dominica and Tortola.  On our Delta leg of the trip, I chose the following films to watch:

We're The Millers - What a pleasant surprise.  Jennifer Aniston heads this cast of Jason Sudeikis, Emma Roberts and Will Poulter who pose as a family who smuggle drugs across the border.  What makes this film work is the chemistry between the four actors.  Aniston and Sudekis show off their comedic chops.   For a fun movie, see this one.

The Family - Roberta DiNero, Michelle Pfieffer and Tommy Lee Jones head this all star cast, but why would they do this film.  It is two hours of my life I will never get back and I could not leave the theater.  I could have shut it off, but hoped it would get better.  No such luck.. It has gratuitous violence, a poor story line and an undeveloped plot.  The only mildly funny part was when DiNero, who is in hiding in France and posing as a writer, is invited to critique a film, but when that film does not appear they show the alternate - Goodfellas which is funny.  Don't bother seeing this.

 

Note about the cruise:

This was our first time on Celebrity lines.  The ship was smaller than others we have been on. It held about 2400 passengers and 900 crew which is small for the big ships.   I must say we could not have been happier.  The ship is quite lovely, staff attentive and food marvelous.  We met a lot of nice people and escaped the cold for a few days.  What could be bad.  I would recommend doing the flexible dining.  This way you have the opportunity to sit with different people each night or just have a quiet time with the person or persons who come with you.  Sy had two complaints - you know how much he loves his coffee and they just couldn't make it to his liking.  Even in the speciality coffee area, he tried, but just didn't quite make it the way he likes it.  Also he felt the dealers in the casino needed to lighten up. This was not high stakes blackjack.  We played at a $6 table and the dealers who were mostly Ukrainian were unfriendly, unhelpful and dealt very fast.  Although we lost money, it was not a lot and I always attribute it to entertainment. Speaking of entertainment, we found, as we have before, that the entertainment in the lounges tend to be not only more intimate, but of good quality.  The guitarist on board, Justin Wade, had a lovely voice and played well.  He favored James Taylor and did a find job with his songs.  The piano player, Will Foraker, reminded us of Eric.  He played so well and liked to play jazz.  Finally an acapella group called Four Sail was fun and very talented.  The ports of call were fine.  We got in three beach days and really each island has the same things; waterfalls, beaches and a fort, but we liked the idea that each day except for Christmas we were at a port and could get off the ship   This time we came in two days before the cruise started.  We did it for a better flight schedule and reduce the already high airfare, but it is something we would do again.  Instead of worrying if you are going to make the ship and be exhausted the first day on board, we spent two night in Puerto Rico relaxing on the beach and getting to the boat early so we could take advantage of the lunch and be relaxed for dinner and the show.  We would stay an extra day if we did this again as the ship gets you off early in the morning, but tells you not to book a flight before noon.  Our flight was not until 3:20 so we spent the entire day waiting around the airport. It will take us a few years before we are ready for another cruise as we now need to lose the weight we gained, but it was all worth it!

A Note about lost luggage:

In all our years of traveling, we have never had our luggage lost, but this time the spell was broken.  On our return flight, we had to not only make a connection, but go from Delta to United in Atlanta.  When we arrived at Dulles, our bag did not show up on the carousal.  We went to the United baggage office and put in a claim.  The representative was able to ascertain that the last time our bag was put into the system was in Puerto Rico.  As Eric said to me, our bag needed more time in the sun.  They give you a number and a site to go on to check.  The next morning I checked with Delta and they were able to locate the bag and said it would be on their 9:30 flight out of Atlanta so it did make it out of Puerto Rico.  Long story short, our bag arrived by 4 Sunday.  You can even check on a web site :wheresmysuitcase.com and it tells you exactly where it is.  Ours was a story with a happy ending.  Hope all yours are too.

I wish all of you a very Happy, Healthy New Year and keep going to the movies!

Roberta