Knives Out opened on Thanksgiving and I could not wait. I love mysteries in books and film and the trailer looked so good especially with its cast. Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer and more. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, of Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) fame and another worthwhile mystery – Brick (2005), the story is obviously styled after Agatha Christie. Rian Johnson has referenced her in interviews. Nothing more thrilling in a mystery setting than a large, stately manor with scores of rooms crammed with objets d’art, stuffed animals, books, fireplaces, and bickering relatives. Photo Credit: Lionsgate Knives Out is about the death of Harlan Thrombey an internationally famous mystery writer who’s written hundreds of novels translated in multiple languages. He’s the patriarch of a family who’s gathered for his 85th birthday at his manor. The morning after the party Harlan is discovered…
The Old Astronomer to His Pupil by Sarah Williams Reach me down my Tycho Brahe, I would know him when we meet,When I share my later science, sitting humbly at his feet;He may know the law of all things, yet be ignorant of howWe are working to completion, working on from then to now. Pray remember that I leave you all my theory complete,Lacking only certain data for your adding, as is meet,And remember men will scorn it, ’tis original and true,And the obloquy of newness may fall bitterly on you. But, my pupil, as my pupil you have learned the worth of scorn,You have laughed with me at pity, we have joyed to be forlorn,What for us are all distractions of men’s fellowship and smiles;What for us the Goddess Pleasure with her meretricious smiles! You may tell that German College that their honor comes too late,But they must not…
Universal Pictures My friend, Lane, and I love to see movies together. We’ve hit up some good ones over the past few years. Recently, Crazy Rich Asians and Rocketman. After all of the steroid holiday hype of Last Christmas with Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding, we decided it was one we had to check out. Lane watched all of Game of Thrones (me only here and there) with Emilia Clarke and we both love Henry Golding from Crazy Rich Asians. It still amazes me that was his debut movie – or at least his first big role. Emilia Clarke as Kate in “Last Christmas,” directed by Paul Feig. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9CEIcmWmtA Great holiday rom-com! Best Christmas movie ever. …dripping with holiday sweetness Worth Giving your Heart To These are some of the promotions on social media and tv/radio to get you over the top excited. You have to know it isn’t going…
Review by Jennifer Graham A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick I can’t even express how much I love this book! I didn’t want this story to end!– Reese Witherspoon I recently finished reading Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. It debuted in August 2018 and has sold more than 1.5 million copies. A #1 New York Times bestseller – it is an emotional story I will carry with me awhile. Here’s the description of the book from the inside of its cover: This post may contain affiliate links and we may earn compensation when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But…
Whether you were strolling down the Beltline, biking through the Krog Tunnel, or standing in front of the dazzling lights at the Fox Theatre, it’s hard to forget the magic that you felt when you spotted your first Tiny Door. The doors are the work of artist Karen Anderson Singer, who started the project in her own neighborhood of Reynoldstown in 2014. Singer, a street artist and sculptor who holds a degree in visual art from Rutgers University, wanted to create a project which would respect and reflect what makes Atlanta unique. What started with a single door and a mission statement to “bring big wonder to tiny spaces” has grown into a movement. Tiny Doors ATL’s Instagram account now boasts over 100,000 followers and has inspired projects all over the world. Singer’s project has been featured by media outlets like O Magazine, NPR, and CBS Sunday Morning. So what’s the story you haven’t already…
Edgar Allan Poe’s Pocket Watch On June 12, 2019, Christie’s Auction House, in New York, sold Poe’s pocket watch (item 209). The final price was $250,000. The estimate was $80,000 – 120,000. The watch is described as “French. An 18K gold key-wound quarter repeating open-face pocket watch with metal guilloche dial Roman hour markers and spade hands. The cuvet (dust-cover) is engraved, “Enchappement A Cylindre En – Aiguilley – Edgar A. Poe – Pierre Huit Trous En Rubis.” The inside case-back cover is engraved with the case number 21705. The case is 51 mm.” The summary provenance states “Edgar A Poe, with engraved inscription – acquired by John W. Albright, merchant tailor of Philadelphia and one of Poe’s creditors c. 1840-1842 – given to his brother, H.A. Albright in 1845 and as follows: On H.A. Albright’s death bequeathed to his mother, Sarah Albright. On her death in 1866 – bequeathed…
On 7 December, Fotografiska will open the doors to Kirsty Mitchell’s fairytale world in this winter’s major exhibition Wonderland – a dream world to be enchanted and embraced by during the darkest months of the year. The magical creations and woodland sets of Wonderland both move and fascinate. Mitchell embarked on the intensive 5-year project in the summer of 2009, a few months after her mother had tragically died of cancer in 2008. It became her escape from a painful reality as she sought her way back to the fairy tale world they shared throughout her childhood. In the woods around her home, the characters from Mitchell’s imagination were given free roam in front of the camera.A journey through a healing grief in a fairytale kingdom… The story of Kirsty Mitchell and her Wonderland project is much like a fairy tale. A multifaceted fairy tale in many respects. “For the first time, the exhibition…
It’s a good lie is part of the main foundation of Lulu Wang’s film The Farewell about a Chinese family in a medical crisis. Based on her own grandmother’s experience, Wang has written and directed a meaningful film about what happens when a family with different viewpoints and lives has to reunite and support a cause for the greater good even if they truly don’t want to. Nai Nai (meaning paternal grandmother) is the head of the family. We see her in the beginning of the film talking long distance from China to her beloved granddaughter Billi, played by the wonderful Awkwafina, in New York. Nai Nai is seen at the doctor’s office being tested, and later we see her younger sister receiving the news that Nai Nai has terminal cancer. Interestingly, in China the law does not require doctors to give patients their diagnoses so her sister can inquire…
In honor of World Cat Day (August 8th), we’re sharing an unique spot we found not long ago. I was reminded of the American Museum of the House Cat by a Facebook post on Henry’s House Feral Community’s page. They’d posted a link to an article on the museum by Atlas Obscura. This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, Poe in Wonderland will earn a small commission for the referral at no cost to you. Last fall Tom, Jack, and I headed to Asheville and Lake Lure for our school break. We enjoy taking our time and discovering places along our route to stop or note for future road trips. If you spend any time on our blog, you’ll quickly notice we love cats. We’ve volunteered at Furkids for over 11 years so long before the youngest son was born. About 45 minutes…
Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone in a house that is slowly crumbling toward the Long Island Sound. His parents are long dead. His mother, a circus mermaid who made her living by holding her breath, drowned in the very water his house overlooks. His younger sister, Enola, ran off six years ago and now reads tarot cards for a traveling carnival. One June day, an old book arrives on Simon’s doorstep, sent by an antiquarian bookseller who purchased it on speculation. Fragile and water damaged, the book is a log from the owner of a traveling carnival in the 1700s, who reports strange and magical things, including the drowning death of a circus mermaid. Since then, generations of “mermaids” in Simon’s family have drowned–always on July 24, which is only weeks away. As his friend Alice looks on with alarm, Simon becomes increasingly worried about his sister. Could…