Chit Chat, Silver Linings Playbook, and Blogger Links to Share

Later today, I'll be posting my review of the thriller Primal by D.A. Serra. I can't help but love an author who wrote: "When you have designed evil characters with absolutely no restrictions as to what they might say or do – well – that’s a blast for the imagination." (This is from my author interview which will be published tomorrow.) Ah! The possibilities! :-)

Yesterday I posted a weekly round-up of what I've been reading, watching, and blogging.

Last night I had an actual date. And why is that such a big deal? Because I've been married for 22 years, and we haven't had "date night" in living memory. I had a two-margarita dinner and saw Silver Linings Playbook at the Visulite Theater downtown.

Mental illness is a subject that hits very close to home for us, and in spite of because of that, we couldn't help but appreciate the offbeat humor surrounding this odd blend of bipolar disorder, OCD, depression, and general quirkiness. I also downloaded the novel, by Matthew Quick, upon which this is based. Judging from the description, I think the book is quite different from the film. I hope to review both soon.

I finally caught up on my feed reader, more or less, and I have loads of not-to-be missed book- and movie-related blogger links to share:

• I loved Diana's review of Django Unchained.


• Alex at And So It Begins, who is the king of kick ass movie lists, posted his Top 20 Movie Title Line Deliveries. "Some folks call it a sling blade ..."


• Sheree posted a lovely review of The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, one of my favorite young adult novels, at The Eclectic Reader.


• Jill at Literary Lollipop discussed Dancing With Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning & Joy in the Face of Suffering by Phillip Moffitt. It looks like this post has some potential for great discussion, about religion and spirituality in its various forms, in the comments.


• Chip posted a fun quiz titled "How Well Do You Know Your Oscar Winning Performers."  "Sometimes Oscar winners seem to come out of nowhere, but most of the time they have paid their dues in low budget, I-need-the-paycheck kind of movies ... Let’s see how well you know the early careers of some of the more recent Oscar winners.  Below you will find two columns.  On the left are the names of Oscar winners.  On the right are the names of the not-quite-Oscar-worthy movies that they were in before they won their Oscars.  Match each person in the first column with their movie in the second column."
  
  I am not an aficionado of Grade B movies, but I find the titles and premises infinitely entertaining. And I have got to get my hands on a copy of Chopper Chicks in Zombietown. Just because.


• Shantanu at U, Me and Films posted a terrific profile of Quentin Tarantino.


• Novroz discussed her favorite and least favorite Cillian Murphy roles. Because no matter how much you love an actor, sometimes they accept roles or give performances that do not rock your world.


• Brittani posted about "5 Winter Movies I Love."


• Rebecca posted "Your Reading List for 2013 Movies," about upcoming films being adapted from page to screen.


• Last but certainly not least, m. brown posted a wonderful review of review of Silver Linings Playbook.