Mini-Reviews: Call Me By Your Name, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Jane Austen Book Club

Welcome once again to the portion of the blog where I talk about some movies I've been watching! Some movies I simply don't feel motivated to write a full review on (or life gets busy!) but I still want to share my thoughts with you. So, here are a few things I've seen lately and how I felt about them!

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Call Me By Your Name
Wow. I put off watching this one for a while because I thought it might have been popular because of the cast or subject matter rather than its own merit. Well, I was wrong. No, it's not perfect, but I definitely found it had a real impact on me to the point that I actually cried at one scene. My only previous experience with Timothée Chalamet had been in Lady Bird, and I hadn't watched anything with Armie Hammer in it, so this was a great way to get to know them better as actors. I would definitely recommend this one. It isn't overwhelmingly dramatic, and there isn't a lot going on in terms of action, but it's lovely nonetheless. I did have one or two moments where I wasn't really a fan of how they shot things/the content, but as far as I am aware they were true to the book for these things, so it's not really a fault of the film.

TTT: Songs That Tell Incredible Stories

Wonderful stories don't simply have to be limited to novels and movies. Thanks to That Artsy Reader Girl's Top Ten Tuesday topic of an Audio Freebie (anything related to audio that you would like), I was inspired to make this week's list about the power of the amazing story told through song.

I have not included songs from musicals (which are engineered to be telling a story), and instead am focusing on those pieces that are stories in and of themselves.

1) American Pie by Don McLean
Perhaps this answer is really stereotypical, but I can't help but include it. It's one of my absolute favourites, and it tells an incredible story.

2) Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967 by John Mayer
I can't even explain how much I love this one. It's got a fantastic rhyming scheme and an uplifting story - especially for all of us dreamers. I recently learned that a bunch of people find the ending of this song ambiguous, which I never have...so that's pretty interesting. Let me know what you think if you give it a listen!

3) Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton
A moving and inspirational song, this story about a coat made with a mother's love and sewed from rags, is autobiographical. It's such a beloved song that a movie was even made in 2015 chronicling this period of Parton's life.

4) The River by Bruce Springsteen
A song about regrets and looking back on your life, this one will quite possibly leave you in tears. It's not the kind of song to leave you quickly, with incredible lines like "these memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse. Is a dream a lie if it don't come true, or is it something worse...?"

5) The Downeaster Alexa by Billy Joel
Billy Joel has several songs that could appear on this list, but this is probably my favourite. Tackling the life and difficulties of a fisherman who has fallen on hard times, this song is both sad and inspirational at the same time. I also think that a large part of the brilliance of this song is how the sounds of the swell of the sea, squawking birds, and fog horns all appear in the song using instruments. It isn't cheesy or distracting, and instead really adds to the mood.

Blog-Along: Begin Again

I love doing blog-alongs. I don't know if anyone actually likes reading them, but they are super fun, and essentially my pure snarky, sarcastic, and silly thoughts about a movie. For the best experience, watch the film with me and read along! However if you don't have a chance to watch it while you read, please be aware that there may be a few mild spoilers. Although I try to edit them, and I avoid anything too massive, unfortunately there are some from time to time. Today's movie, Begin Again, is one that I've wanted to watch for a while and finally got around to. Enjoy!

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