Review - Brigham City, Hidden Gem on Prime

Today's review is for an unusual movie, BRIGHAM CITY, now streaming on Amazon Prime.

(If you're not a subscriber, you can purchase a DVD of Brigham City from Amazon.)

The tagline for this thriller is chilling and appropriate: "Nothing attracts a Serpent like Paradise."

The movie, directed, written, produced, and starring Richard Dutcher, debuted in 2001. It's a captivating tale of pure evil that kept us guessing to the last few minutes of the film.

We never guessed the identity of the serial killer who nearly destroyed the  small Utah town peopled by devout Mormons.

I know very little about the Mormon religion so I found its depiction of religious devotion that underscored the lives of all the inhabitants of Brigham City very interesting. It seemed real, not artifice.

SHORT BLURB

Sheriff Wes Clayton (Dutcher) is also a Mormon bishop in the picturesque small town of Brigham City. One day he discovers the body of a woman from California, murdered and left near her car. Wes doesn't have the resources for a murder investigation and since the car was from out of state, he calls in the FBI.

A second murder makes him realize the murderer must be one of the citizens of the close-knit community. He must now solve the murder any way he can before it is too late.

DETAILS

Along with Richard Dutcher are Matthew A. Brown, Wilford Brimley, Carrie Morgan, Jongiorgi Enos, and Tayva Patch. Although the film budget was $900,000, raised by contributions, no corners are cut.

The movie is top notch. The ending is emotional and so different. The story and characters get  under your skin. You'll find yourself thinking about it hours or even days after watching it.

Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a 71% "Fresh" rating. New York Times critic Lawrence Van Gelder praised Dutcher, Brown, Brimley, and Morgan, calling their performances "impeccable" and described the film as, "an example of concise, skillful filmmaking."

MY 2¢

Absolutely compelling.In fact, I would watch another movie with the same characters and setting both of which were original and different from the usual fare. 

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Brigham City is truly a hidden gem. Watch it. You won't be disappointed.

Joan participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, affiliate advertising designed to help websites earn advertising fees by linking to products on Amazon. If you click an Amazon link in her post, she may receive a small commision at no extra cost to you.

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Revisiting Hurricane Harvey

Eight years ago, on this day, Hurricane Harvey, considered the worst hurricane in Houston's history, made landfall here.

Darling Hubby had gone to our house in the country which was our "storm escape" plan to avoid being near the Gulf Coast when a storm cane in.

I'd driven our daughter to physical therapy that day. We'd planned to join him later, but by the time we left the hospital, it had started raining.

Daughter insisted on being returned to her home so I did that and prayed she and her husband would be safe there. By the time I reached my home, I was resigned to riding out the storm there.

Wind and rain had started, and that began 48 hours of the most horrific rainfall I'd ever witnessed. It simply never stopped. Hours and hours of rain for 2 days.

By the second day, our chimney had become saturated with rain and the brick inside the house became soaked too. I placed towels around the bottom to protect the wood floors. That was worrisome, but it was nothing compared to what thousands of people were experiencing.

To my surprise, we never lost power or water or cell service, but people in other parts of town were being rescued by boats from their roofs.

It was scary. I'd been through countless hurricanes as a child growing up in Louisiana and through typhoons as an adult living in Japan. Hurricane Harvey beat all those experiences.

Although Harvey was a Category 4 hurricane, its impact was off the charts due to the catastrophic and widespread flooding, the high winds, and the record-breaking rainfall.

The problem was that the storm stalled over Southeast Texas after making landfall. It's considered to be the wettest hurricane on record in the U.S.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Emergency responders and ordinary citizens who pitched in were amazing. The people here are one of the reasons why we love living here.  

Saturday Share - Garden Fresh Corn Quiche

It's been a while since I shared a recipe on Saturday, but the wait will be worth it when you try this recipe.

Most of you don't raise corn in a home garden, but this is the time of year when you can buy fresh corn on the cob at your local supermarket or farmer's market.

First, I'm going to give you a tip for making even frozen corn taste as if it came fresh from the garden.

This is a tip your grandmothers probably knew. When grandmother came in with fresh corn, she would put a pot of water on to boil, salt the water and also add a pinch of sugar. That sugar brought out the natural sweetness in corn.

Do this with frozen corn on the cob, and the corn will taste much better. Now, let's use fresh corn a different way. You'll be using a food processor for this. If you don't have one, use your mixer.

Photo by mali maeder from Pexels

GARDEN FRESH CORN QUICHE

Ingredients 

3 cups fresh corn cut from the cob, divided

3 eggs

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1 taboesppon of AP flour

5 teaspoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon of fresh cilantro

1 cup half and half

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped (optional)

1 9-inch, deep dish frozen pie crust

Photo by Cats Coming from Pexels

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F. (190.5°C.).

2. Puree 1 cup of corn kernels. Add the onion, eggs, sugar, salt, flour, and cilantro. Blend until the vegetables are finely chopped.

3. Add the cream and butter and process until blended.

4. Pour mixture into a bowl.

5, Fold in the remaining corn and the jalapeno.

6. Pour the mixture into the crust and bake about 50-55 minutes or until a little puffed and golden brown on top. Time varies according to your oven.

7. Cool so it sets up but is still warm. Serve.

The cilantro gives it a bright citrusy taste profile. You can swap out the cilantro if you want to experiment. Basil, chives, thyme, rosemary, dill, parsley, or tarragon go well with corn and give it a slightly different flavor profile.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

I hope you enjoy this fresh corn recipe. Let me know if you try it.

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Hump Day Wisdom

Let's slide into Wednesday with a quotation to guide us through the day.

This one is from Catherine Pulsifer.

"Wednesday will either make you or break you. You are either on the upward trend or the downward slide to the end of the work week. Give it all you got this Wednesday!”

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Go for it!

Review - The Life List on Netflix

Last week I in reviewing MY OXFORD YEAR, I mentioned another movie starring Sofia Carson, also on Netflix, and promised to review it this week.

For those interested in "heartwarming" romance with a message, here's my review of THE LIFE LIST, which was released by Netflix earlier this year. I actually watched it before My Oxford Year.

The Life List is a romantic comedy/drama film written and directed by Adam Brooks, adapted from the novel of the same name by Lori Nelson Spielman.

SHORT BLURB

After the death of her mother (portrayed by Connie Britton), Alex (Sophia Carson) views a video her mother had left that reminds Sophia of her childhood aspirations and urges Alex to try to achieve the goals set when she was young.

The result is a surprising and emotional journey characterized by memories and emotions resulting in Alex finding her true self and possibly true love too. The film is a love letter to mother-daughter relationships, and that fact makes it watchable even though the story is nothing new.

THE CAST

Starring along with Sofia Carson are Kyle Allen as Brad, Connie Britton as Elizabeth Rose, Sebastian de Souza as Garrett, Jordi Mollà as Johnny, Marianne Rendón as Zoe, José Zúñiga as Samuel, and Chelsea Frei as Megan.

I found the movie to be "heartwarming and charming" despite its predictability.

I mean, we all know how a romantic movie ends—it's the journey from no love to true love that makes us watch.

That's the reason why romance novels are the most popular genre—we want to see the road the heroine and hero travel from beginning to end.

The ending is as important as the beginning. It must be worthy of the struggle the characters undergo, and the ending of this movie is satisfying.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

There aren't any huge surprises in the movie, but, nevertheless, you'll find it appealing.

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Taking a Break = Falling Off the Radar

What do Zombies and Falling Behind have to do with each other?

It's simple. Become a Zombie, just walking through life and trying to get over being tired, and you Fall Behind.

That's me. I was crazy busy from May to July 23 with my personal life and finishing a book to publish that I felt like a Zombie after that marathon was completed.

I was too tired to write, blog, or even do my daily workouts.

The weather turned excruciatingly hot so I stayed inside where it was cool instead of working on my landscape which is another personal project that is now on hiatus.

I haven't written or blogged or even kept my monthly commitments to my group blogs.

Apologies to my Smart Girls Read Romance blog friends.

Also pologies to my Romance Gems...Where Authors and Readers Meet blog friends.

I encourage you to visit both those groups for some compelling blog posts and discussions.

NOW, 3 WEEKS LATER

Yikes. My latest book, OLD ENOUGH TO BE BOLD, was published July 23, and I'm waking from my exhaustion stupor to realize I am woefully behind on email, blogging, and writing the next book.

Thankfully, the new book is doing quite well which pleases me greatly. The next book in the Mean Woman Blues series is outlined and waiting for me to put fingers to keyboard.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

There's a difference from taking a much-needed break and falling off the radar. Hmm. Maybe in today's world those are one and the same? What do you think?

Joan participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, affiliate advertising designed to help websites earn advertising fees by linking to products on Amazon. If you click an Amazon link in her post, she may receive a small commision at no extra cost to you.

OLD ENOUGH TO BE BOLD, NEW RELEASE SALE PRICE 99¢

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Random Thoughts - Acceptance or Resignation

William James said: "Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune."

A dear friend passed away. We'd been friends since the late 1980s. Even though she had moved away, we stayed in touch nearly every week.

I can't believe it happened. I guess that translates into I can't accept it. I thought of the quotation above and have come to the conclusion that acceptance must be the optimistic cousin of resignation.

Takeaway Truth

I know I'll eventually "accept" this loss, but it will simply be that I'm resigned to it.

Review - My Oxford Year on Netflix

Netflix has another new release, My Oxford Year, starring Sofia Carson. You may remember her from her starring role in another Netflix movie, The Life List.

(I thought I had reviewed The Life List, but it seems I have not. It was actually better than today's movie. Look for that a review of The Life List next week.)

In My Oxford Year, Ms. Carson is Anna De La Vega who was born to a Hispanic family and raised in the United States. 

She's a Cornell summa cum laude grad who deferred a fabulous job offer in order to pursue a Master’s degree in English Language and Literature at Oxford.

Corey Mylchreest is Jamie Davenport, a PhD student and tutor in English. Of course, he's handsome, with a plethora of girlfriends, and he's from an upper-class, wealthy family.

This may be a spoiler, but I saw it coming from a mile away. He was born into a wealthy,  upper-class family, and has inherited a genetic predisposition to cancer. Enough said, right?

Dougray Scott is his father, William Davenport, and Catherine McCormack is his mother, Antonia Davenport.

BLURB

This movie seems to follow the playbook established by Dying Young (1991), The Fault in Our Stars (2014), Me Before You (2016), and a bunch of others.

Yes, it has the too-beautiful, too-smart, too-accomplished heroine who cries beautifully—no ugly cry like most women in real life. The hero is gorgeous and sexy, the film has the usual cute bits found in most romances, and the "tragic surprise" is never really a surprise.

Despite all that, there's nothing inherently wrong with the movie "inspired by the 2018 novel of the same name by Julia Whelan, which was adapted from a screenplay by Allison Burnett."

I have not read the book so my remarks don't pertain to the book which may differ vastly from the movie. 

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

A lot of people like tragic romance so you may love My Oxford Year and its presentation of the genre. I do highly recommend the other movies I mentioned. Same plot, different presentations.

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Monday Magic - 3 YouTube HotKey Tricks

Happy Monday!

I have 3 YouTube HotKey Tricks to share with you today. These are easy peasy and speeds up your ability to navigate videos you watch.

If you watch information videos, chances are you pause the video quite often, rewind, and play numerous times.

Rather than clicking video navigation icons, try these easy keyboard hotkeys to navigate faster.

1. PAUSE AND RESUME VIDEO

 Tap the K key or the space bar and your video willl pause. Tap either again to resume.

2. REWIND

Tap the J key to rewind 10 seconds. Keep tapping if you need to rewind more. When you're ready to resume, tap the K key or the space bar to resume. 

3. JUMP FORWARD

10 seconds—tap the L key and the video jumps forward 10 seconds.

Beginning—tap the 0 key and the video jumps to the start.

% of video—tap a number on the number pad, and the video jumpes to a percentage of the video, i.e., 1 = 10%, 9 = 90%, etc.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

These are the most common hotkey tricks. I hope they'll help you navigate a video faster.

Joan participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, affiliate advertising designed to help websites earn advertising fees by linking to products on Amazon. If you click an Amazon link in her post, she may receive a small commision at no extra cost to you.

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Happy Birthday, Dearest Daddy

Today is my dad's birthday. Although we lost him long ago, he is ever present in my heart and mind.

I never knew him when he looked like this photograph of him which was taken in a nightclub in London or Paris. He was one of the D-Day soldiers who came ashore in a hail of gun and cannon fire.

He survived and went on to marry after the war and have 3 children. I'm the middle child. I have his blue eyes and dark blond hair.

My older brother has his  handsome features, and my younger brother, also handsome but not resembling him as much with his facial features, has his body shape and strength.

Daddy played the guitar and piano by ear. He had a great sense of humor, loved a good joke, and had a wonderful laugh. 

I wish an impossible thing—to have known him in his youth when he was young and had the whole world in front of him. 

From his World War 2 experiences—fighting in England, France, and Germany—he suffered  from a back injury incurred when he carried a wounded friend to safety.

He also suffered from what we now call PTSD. I believe that arose from horrible abuse in his childhood coupled with memories of the war that haunted him—the dead and the dying and so many more awful things that he wanted to forget. I often wonder if that's why he developed Alzheimer's. In the end, he forgot everything.

If only I could have 5 minutes with him again. Five minutes to tell him how much more I appreciate him and everything he did and everything he was. Five minutes to tell him how much I Iove him.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

If your father is still on this earth, take time to tell him the things he has done that you admire. Tell him you love him. 

Truth About List Making

I love making lists. However, list making is an activity that can be good or bad.

It's good because making lists can keep you on track and focused on what you need to accomplish.

List making is a great organizational tool that can be used for every aspect of life from making grocery lists to accomplishing big goals.

Unfortunately, list making can be bad because making lists can become  procastination. The act of making a list may dilute the urgency to actually do the items on the list. 

Action is the key. After making the list, one must take action.

Some people delight in making lists but never get around to taking action. 

Making the lists dilutes the urgency felt when the list was started.

Some take no action and in a day or a month of failure to complete the items on a list, they simply make a new list.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Action is key in any endeavor. Time spent on list making is wasted if action doesn't follow. 

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Review - Freelance on Netflix

Netflix has a new movie for action-comedy fans—or maybe it's for John Cena fans?

Freelance was a 2023 theatrical release, but it didn't do very well at the box office. However, if you're looking for something light, a bit humorous, and with a little bit of action, Freelance might entertain you.

BLURB

Mason Pettis found his call in life when he rejected a law career and joined the military where he made it as a special forces operative.

Unfortunately, his team was killed, he was injured, and he ended up back in the civilian world, married, and with a child.

When he's asked by an old friend to provide private security for a washed-up journalist as she interviews a ruthless dictator, he accepts. A military coup breaks out, and the trio of unlikely comrades must survive a jungle and learn to get along to make it out alive.

MY 2¢

I wouldn't say this is an uneasy mix of comedy and action, but I will say the writers, producers, directors, or whoever made the decisions about this picture weren't adept at wearing 2 hats.

You've got a talented cast who did their best to make the movie watchable. In the end, the script wasn't funny enough to be a comedy and didn't have the high action scenes action fans want.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

It's new so you might give it a look if there's nothing else on your radar.

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Monday Magic - 2 YouTube Tricks

I'm happy to give you 2 YouTube Tricks to help your navigate faster through videos you want to watch.

1. Watch Later

If you stumble upon a video you want to watch but don't have the time at that moment, quickly save the video to watch later.

On the video, tap the Menu, that's the 3 dots ... in lower right of the video. Select SAVE which opens a list of your playlists with Watch Later shown first. Check that box and it's there for you to watch when you have time.

2. Better Search Results

When you do a search on YouTube, you enter specific keywords for what you want to see. However, the results often aren't what you want. You can make the search results better by having YouTube show you results containing only the keywords you enter.

Enter your search string by typing allintitle + colon + space + keywords.

Example to search for these keywords, youtube tricks, and have results that are only those keywords, you'd type:

allintitle: youtube tricks

Yes, it's that easy.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

I hope these 2 tricks help you use YouTube more effectively.

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Book Quote of the Week

I love this quote!

Wise words from Neil Gaiman.

“Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them. And it’s much cheaper to buy somebody a book than it is to buy them the whole world!”

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

What's your favorite book quote?