Movie: A Beautiful Mind

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8…I think…see my review below.

Genre: Life

Primary actors: Russell Crowe (the reason I watched it) and who else matters?!

Length: Just over two hours

Based on: I think there’s a book? At any rate, the main character was a real guy. Way back when.

Time period: 1950s, I believe

Rating: PG-13

Year it came out: 2001

My overall opinion: I didn’t really like this one and was gonna go for a lower rating, but then I remembered – I didn’t dislike it. And despite these slight misgivings, it kept me watching for the whole movie. Time flew. The plot is intricate, but not hard to understand. You will empathize with this guy! It’s an amazing story. I can’t say much, because you’ll be more interested if you don’t know what’s going on (same as me), but this movie – watch it. It’s worth a view. Seeing Russell Crowe here was a delight! Recommended for fans of his. Anyone looking for a unique drama – try this!

GIVEAWAY!!!! and RiverNorth Blog Tour: Shades of Mercy

Author: Anita Lustrea, Caryn Rivadeneira

Genre: Life, growing up

Series: A Maine Chronicle

Number in series: 1^st

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5 high

Type: Historical fiction

Number of pages: 259

Time period: 1950s

Publisher and price: RiverNorth, $14.99

My overall opinion: A good book, and as good as I had hoped it would be. It’s about the conflict between the whites and the Indians in Maine – I had no idea they had this kind of tension there in the 1950s! This book provided a fascinating look at some complicated situations that seemed true to life. It’s a growing up story about a young girl of 16 and her Indian boyfriend. The book was full of good writing, and had an excellent story – I would read more, either in this series or by these authors. I especially loved the description of a food pantry in Mercy’s house – it reminded me of the luscious food descriptions in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book, Farmer Boy. I’m a sucker for food descriptions. ;) But this was a heartwarming and sweet story!

**RiverNorth asked me to review this and provided my copy, along with others for giveaway. I wasn’t required to review it positively, nor was I recompensed in any other way for my review.**

GIVEAWAY! Think you might enjoy this book? (I think you would!) RiverNorth kindly sent me extra copies for giveaway! Interested in winning one of them? Just fill in the Rafflecopter form below.

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Movie: Father of the Bride

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Genre: Comedy, family

Primary actors: Elizabeth Taylor, Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett

Length: One and a half hours

Time period: 1950s

Year it came out: 1950

My overall opinion: It was funny and not-too-long and rather cute! I did enjoy seeing the clothes that they wore back then…and it was interesting to see Elizabeth Taylor in this almost demure part – I’m used to her as Kate in Taming of the Shrew. A very clean, family-friendly movie, as far as I can remember, and while I didn’t love it, it was an enjoyable watch. :)

Movie: Parent Trap

 

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Genre: Family, adventure, childhood

Primary actor: Hayley Mills

Length: Just over two hours

Time period: 1950’s, I suppose

Year it came out: 1961

My overall opinion: A funnish movie, that I didn’t love but did enjoy. Got several good laughs out of it, but there were a few inappropriate things…not bad, though. IMDB has a list. Not a new favorite, but good for a one-time watch! Oh, and by the way...some interesting doubles too! Post coming later.

Home

Author: Julie Andrews

Genre: Life

Series: Not technically – but I hope she writes a sequel about the rest of her life.

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 7.5

Type: Biography

Number of pages: 339

Time period: 1950’s, mostly

My overall opinion: It was okay. There was some stuff that she definitely could have left out. And I should mention that it was just about her early life – it stops just after she gets the part of Mary in Mary Poppins, in the 1960’s. And it was Mary Poppins, and Sound of Music, and the other later movies that she did that I was really interested in. But this book was passably interesting, though I won’t read it again.

Movie: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 7.5

Genre: Fantasy

Primary actors: Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes

Length: Almost 2 ½ hours

Time period: 1950’s? Fantasy

Year it came out: 1968

My overall opinion: It was…interesting! A little too fantastical for me (I don’t think I’ve had that problem before) but it was fun anyway. Very story-bookish, and might be frightening for younger kids – but too fantastical (is that a word?) to make older people very worried.

Meet the Austins

Author: Madeline L’Engle

Genre: Childhood

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 192

Time period: 1950’s, maybe?

My overall opinion: It was really good! I read L’Engle’s “Wind in the Door” series, and thought they were fine...but this one was better, IMHO! Fun story.

The Answer is God

Author: Elise Milller Davis

Genre: Life

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Biography

Number of pages: 242

Time period: 1950's

Main characters: Roy Rogers, Dale Evans

Exciting events: Their lives were pretty wow. Yes, I meant to say that.

My overall opinion: I learned so much about Roy and Dale from this biography! They both had lives that just make you say wow.

Dancing Under the Red Star

Author: Karl Tobien

Genre: Biography

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Biography

Number of pages: 317

Time period: 1940's, 1950's

Main characters: Margaret

Exciting events: Life in "Stalin's Gulag", essentially a concentration camp

My overall opinion: It was an interesting book. She was an American girl (about 18), living temporarily in Russia with her family, and was captured and taken for a spy. She wasn't one, but served 10 years for the assumption. It's obviously post-Holocaust, but still reminded me strongly of the concentration and death camps for Jews. Another interesting thing is that it's written in first person, but it was her son who wrote it. But just reading it, you'd think it was an auto-bio!

Cheaper by the Dozen

Author: Frank Gilbreth

Genre: Family, life

Series: I believe it has a sequel, but it's not a technical series.

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Non-fiction

Number of pages: 245

Time period: 1950's?

Main characters: A dozen kids!

Exciting events: Quite a few.

My overall opinion: This was a highly entertaining book! I literally laughed out loud several times. Unfortunately, there are a number of uses of Jesus' name in the wrong way, and also some d---, but otherwise I enjoyed it.

Movie: Brigadoon

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9

Main characters: Tommy, Fiona, Jeff

Genre: Romance  

Primary actors: Gene Kelly, Cyd Charise, Van Johnson

Time period: 1950's, 1700's

Exciting events: A big chase

Year it came out: 1954

My overall opinion: This is one of my favorite movies. It's unique. It's a Scottish romance in a disappearing town...literally. You want to watch this one. :)