Saturday movie review: 'Austenland'

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Movies based on the lives of authors or anything remotely related to authors, though often good, tend to be, well, a tad stuffy and serious. That is so very much not the case with AUSTENLAND. And yes, the "Austen" part of the title does indeed relate to the esteemable Jane Austen, author of such classics as Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park and So. Many. More.

Austenland

A comedy about dear Ms. Austen? Well, it's not...

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Saturday movie review: 'About Time'

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I wanted so badly to see ABOUT TIME starring Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams and Bill Nighy when it played in theaters late last year. Unfortunately, time was not on my side, and I ended up having to wait for it to appear on DVD and Blu-ray.

About Time

Which it did, much to my delight, March 4. I immediately had it in my hands — thank you, Netflix! — and playing on my television for my hubby and me.

ABOUT TIME is a romantic...

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Dance and get happy

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abstract dancers

Yay for Friday!

It's been a challenging week for a variety of reasons, so having made it through to the end warrants a happy dance for one and all. For happy dance inspiration, following are two of the happiest dances I've seen in a while.

First up, does anyone do...

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GRAND Social No. 94 plus silly syncing fun courtesy Jimmy and Paul

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link party

First, THE SILLY SYNCING FUN:

I don't know about you, but despite having a soft spot in my heart for Jimmy Kimmel, I love the way Jimmy Fallon has fully — and comfortably — made The Tonight Show his own.

The following is just one of the many only-Jimmy-Fallon-could-pull-this-off bits that make me chuckle. And yet another reason why...

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Grandma's all-around good sport

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child on park play structureI have a handful of skills that I enjoy sharing with my grandsons, activities I consider myself good at and that I'm happy to encourage them to become good at, too. For them at this age, that's mostly reading, crafting, cooking, playing games plus a few other rather sedate things.

And then there are the skills this not-so-agile grandma...

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Sirens, earworms and closer to fine

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I write quite often here about movies and about books. I realized this week that I very rarely write about music anymore, especially after changing the focus of my Saturday posts from "The Saturday Post" to "The Saturday Movie Review."

I love and appreciate music just as much as I love and appreciate movies and books. And when it comes to music, I think the songs that move and matter to someone tell so much about them, far more so than movie and book selections do.

In light of that, today I share with you the music...

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Saturday movie review: 'Blue Jasmine'

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Though I'm a longtime fan of Woody Allen's films, I wouldn't proclaim BLUE JASMINE a must-see film. It's not one of my favorites of Allen's — that honor belongs to PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO. It's Cate Blanchett's role as Jasmine in the film, though, that is a hands-down, no-doubt-about-it must-see.

Blue Jasmine on DVD

All the many, many nominations Blanchett has so far received...

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