When the birds are gone
It may still be summer, but most of the migratory birds have started their winter journey south. My favourite avian friends seem to have departed without saying goodbye. So, I train my eyes to look at...
View ArticleThe Netflix Diversion
As two of my highly anticipated movies (see my list here) coming out in the fall will be on Netflix: Maestro and NYAD, I just can’t resist anymore. Three days ago I decided to subscribe to Netflix....
View ArticleAnna’s Hummingbird: A Lesson in Smallness
Earlier this week I spent a few days in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Richmond Nature Park was high on my agenda since I ‘discovered’ the place last time I visited and found it to be a haven for...
View Article‘Anatomy of a Fall’ or how to dissect a marriage
In lieu of heading to Toronto for TIFF as in pre-Covid time, I stay put in my city hoping some of my anticipated films might trickle down. Of the nine titles on my to-be-watched list, only one came to...
View Article‘NYAD’ is a movie of two heroes
Diana Nyad is the first person to swim more than 100 miles from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida without a protective shark cage. The date was September 2, 2013. Nyad reached Florida shore after 53...
View Article‘The Holdovers’ is easy viewing for the holidays
Alexander Payne’s newest feature is a pleasant dramedy for this coming holidays season. Set in a 1970 remote New England winter, boarding school history teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is tasked...
View Article‘American Symphony’ is a Must-See 2023 Documentary
While waiting for Maestro to come to our city’s theatres, serendipity strikes. I found this newly released documentary on Netflix. Two classical music features coming out at the same time, I thought....
View ArticleReading the Season: Babe or Man, Man or King? A Poem by Luci Shaw
‘Tis the Season to be meditative if we’re to find peace against the tide, seek meaning amidst the frenzy. Reading the Season is the annual Christmas reading post here on Ripple Effects. I’d selected...
View ArticleBooks to kick off 2024
Before talking about the top movies of 2023 and the upcoming Oscars nominations later this month, let me start off with books. The first two below I’ve just finished, the rest are TBR ‘on my night...
View ArticleRipples from the 2024 Oscar Nominations
The 96th Academy Awards nominations were announced on January 23. To Oscar watchers, the Best Picture list is no surprise. All the ten movies have been garnering praises all along in the past year....
View ArticleJapanese Literature Challenge 17: Keigo Higashino’s Latest, ‘The Final Curtain’
Keigo Higashino is a prolific writer, more than sixty novels published and not only in the mystery genre, yet only thirteen have been translated into English. The Final Curtain is his latest, albeit it...
View ArticleThe Zone of Interest and the Banality of Evil
How does a German family spend their summer holidays? Imagine this one with mom and dad and their five children in a country house. Family picnic by the river, dad fishing, mom admiring her large and...
View ArticleEaster Thoughts from Madeleine L’Engle
“Easter, which turns a terrible Friday into Good Friday. It is almost too brilliant for me to contemplate; it is like looking directly into the sun; I am burned and blinded by life. ** There are times...
View ArticleThe 1937 Club: ‘Out of Africa’ Book to Movie
Twice a year, Simon at Stuck in a Book and Karen at Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings host an interesting reading event, the year club. We read books published in that year indicated by the number and write...
View ArticleThe 1937 Club: Maugham’s ‘Theatre’ from Book to Screen
To wrap up my week for The 1937 Club, I’m re-posting my review of W. Somerset Maugham’s Theatre published in 1937 which some of you have read. As I’m still reading Virginia Woolf’s The Years, haven’t...
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