Aesthetics

October 2, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. For the past few days, I have been pondering the word aesthetics. Certainly, I consider myself a poodle of extraordinary aesthetics. However, being an ENTJ and my novelist being an INTJ, aesthetics seems to mean less to us than whether something works. Sensory perceptive and sensory judgement personality types, which we try to keep our distance from, especially the extroverted ones, are all about aesthetics because, well, they are sensory. They will have never ending discussions on how the perfect butter horn should be made or exactly, precisely what color the banister should be painted. Or how to spend shocking amounts of money to sculpt themselves into the perfect body type. My novelist and I prefer to discuss abstract ideas and visionary brainstorming. It isn’t that we dislike beautiful things we just like things to be well-made and/or work well no matter what they look like. Some of the greatest rock stars of all time are not pretty but their music is astounding. Some musical celebrities today are hired for their looks, which is most unfortunate. Especially when someone whose aesthetics are not as exemplary may be much more talented and would pen far better music gets left on the sidelines. Beauty in our society is more than overrated. It’s disturbingly worshiped. If the dull flat metal plane with the small worn brown seats and no first class can take off, fly and land and the shiny sexy one with the neon party lights and the big plush cherry red reclining chairs crashes into the ocean, bursts into flames, is circled by sharks, and everyone and everything on it gets destroyed, which one are you going to board? Until next week, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and all five installments of the Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, Musicology: Volume Three, Twist!, Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! and Musicology: The Epiquad on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will win Musicology!

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: AKA CHARLIE SHEEN (2025)-NETFLIX**

This week’s film is a biographical documentary on one of Hollywood’s most notorious living movie stars, Charlie Sheen. This two-parter is told mostly through Charlie Sheen’s memories of his life from childhood to present. It is fascinating which celebrities participated in the documentary and what they had to say about the man who include Jon Cryer, Chuck Lorie, Dennise Richards, Sean Penn, Heidi Fleiss, and brother Ramon Estevez. Sheen’s father Martin Sheen and his older brother Emilio Estevez decided not to be a part of the documentary but footage of them is in the film.

The challenge in watching this movie is what made/makes Charlie Sheen tick. His association with other celebrities is fascinating, such as Nicholas Cage and Mathew Perry. His experimental lifestyle and capacity for living the fast life is harrowing. And his relationship with his father and ex-wife Richards is extraordinary. But the real question here is how we decipher what kind of person he really is and why he has lived the life he has. Some experts think he has bipolar disorder. Others believe he has extreme narcissism. Still others think his actions may be linked to drug withdrawal. Some believe he exhibits psychopathic traits. I do agree with most of these thoughts and would add it appears he has a good chance of having the genetic allele MAOA which is responsible for aggression and impulse control. He also might have 5-HTTLPR which is associated with psychopathy and addiction. But only a psychiatrist could make these determinations. He is typed as an ESTP which is the most likely personality type to be psychopathic (and an actor for that matter) followed by ENTP, ENTJ and ESTJ. ESTPs are even jokingly called the Con Artist Personality Type. Interestingly his father Martin Sheen is typed as an ISFJ which is a perfect match for ESTP and probably explains their incredible bond as a father and son. The bottom line however is Charlie Sheen is interesting to listen to and you kind of like him…at a distance…and hope he can and is pulling his life together.

Pandemonium

June 26, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to tell you pure pandemonium has broken out. My novelist has had her eyes glued to the computer since this morning because the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Preview dropped today. This for me is one of the most heinous weeks of the year. It is a most dreadful event where she pays attention to the sale but not to me. Alas, I am left to fend for myself as she drills down page after page looking at clothing and bobbles until her eyes are bloodshot and she walks around like she is in a trance. I, in the meantime, have been working on my new story The Dog Doctor which I will be releasing chapter by chapter. But there she sits, absolutely addicted. There is something profoundly wrong with that. Anyway, I am now going to go fetch myself some tea and dog biscuits and stay out of her way until the fever breaks. Until next week I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: HITCHCOCK (2012)- NETFLIX**

Right now, Netflix has a fantastic array of Hitchcock films to watch including some of his very best work: Frenzy, Family Plot, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), The Birds, Rear Window, Vertigo and of course Psycho. And if you are a true cinephile you have seen them all, probably multiple times. If you have never seen these films, cinephile or no, all seven of these are required viewing. If you watch nothing else this summer watch all seven of these movies. Especially the last four as they are masterpieces. Movies don’t get much better than this. So, unless you are watching The Dekalog or all of Stanley Kubrick’s films, stop what you’re streaming right this minute and view every one of these.

Now to this underrated movie from 2012, which is about how Hitchcock went about bringing Psycho to life. One would think a director with as much success as he had would be able to make his next movie without much struggle. But alas, business jackasses are everywhere. Alfred Hitchcock (brilliantly played by Anthony Hopkins) reads the book Psycho by Robert Bloch and is immediately smitten. Not even his collaborator and wife Alma Reville (BAFTA nominee Helen Mirren) can convince him otherwise. He is so determined that no one knows anything about the book before he makes the film he sends his secretary Peggy (Toni Collette) out to purchase every copy.

Because he didn’t make enough money with Vertigo and the studio considered it a failure (If you can believe that. My favorite Hitchcock movie by the way.) they don’t want to finance the film. So, Hitchcock decides to put up his own money and goes to work hiring Joseph Stefano (Ralph Macchio) to write the script, Janet Leigh (Scarlet Johansson) and Anthony Perkins (James D’Arcy) to play the leads and Vera Miles (Jessica Biel) whom Hitchcock had a bitter past with to co-star. In the meantime, Alma Reville has gotten fed up with her husband’s dismissiveness of her contribution to his success and considers starting an affair with screenwriter Whitfield Cook (Danny Houston).

Cable Sugit

April 24, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce my weekly blog post. I must tell you; internet cable is a nightmare. They are digging up the neighborhood to lay down Fios. And we are absolutely delighted by this as we have wanted fast internet for a while now. However, while they were digging up the ground and laying the cable we lost the internet. The Fios workers were kind enough to repair our cable so we have a television, but we could not bring back our internet for the computer. We contacted our provider who sent out a technician. Turns out whatever the Fios workers did fried our router which, if you have a router, you know they are not the cheapest toy in the Crackerjack box as it were. Anyway, our router was fortunately still under warranty, and we were able to order a new one at the cost of twenty-five dollars to ship. Dreadful. However, it is better than paying one hundred and seventy dollars. We are trying every workaround to use what internet we can. My novelist and I must be careful about using our phone for a hot spot because we would have run out of data for the month. Hopefully, our router will arrive soon, and we will be back to our regularly scheduled program. Until then, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: BEAU IS AFRAID (2023)-HBO MAX**

This week’s pick is without doubt one of the strangest movies I have ever seen. And that includes Blue Velvet which ironically makes complete sense to me. I will say Beau Is Afraid is not for all tastes, it is not for kids, and the ending is truly odd. But the first two acts of the film are downright hysterical, and they make it worth the watch. The film is wildly written and directed by Ari Aster.

The plot, if that indeed is what it is, is focused on a man named Beau Wassermann (bravely and brilliantly played by Joaquin Phoenix). Beau has reason to be afraid. He lives alone in the absolute worst neighborhood in America and is understandably seeing a therapist (Stephen McKinley Henderson). Today’s visit is extra special because Beau is going home to see his highly successful mother Mona Wassermann (played by both Zoe Lister-Jones & Patti LuPone) tomorrow. Beau has every intention of getting home to see her and has every intention of catching his flight and the therapist gives him some pills he absolutely must drink with water to survive the affair. But because an unknown person keeps slipping notes under his door all that night by an unknown person claiming he won’t turn down his music (Beau is not playing any music) he wakes up late to catch his early flight. In his rush to get to the airport on time he makes the dreaded mistake of leaving his suitcase and keys in the hall to run back and retrieve his beloved dental floss. When Beau returns to the hall both the suitcase and keys are gone. He then finds himself on a genuinely bizarre odyssey as he attempts to head home to his mother’s house and tries to get there in time before…well, you’re just going to have to watch it and find out for yourself.

Rounding out the cast of this whacky adventure are Parker Posey as Elane Bray, Beau’s childhood sweetheart, Nathan Lane as Roger, and Amy Ryan as his wife Grace. Also look for Bill Header in a small but crucial roll as UPS Guy.

Documenting

March 6, 2025March 6, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good morning. Gigi the parti poodle here to welcome you to another installment of my blog. As you know, I am continuing to take a break from my little stories I tell here while I continue to practice my writing and assist my novelist in penning her newest novel. This week, as is tradition, my novelist and I sat down and watched The Oscars. We have seen many of this year’s nominated films but not all and we are continuing to review them. This week we watched a couple of nominated documentaries together. I have come to find out that these are not comedies. I find myself rather disturbed after viewing them. Last night, for instance, I could not settle down to sleep. I had to shove and push my blanky in many directions. Nothing was comfortable. I also tried walking on my novelist. This did not help. She did not like it. I was finally able to settle down and listen to gentle music while I attempted to meditate and try and forget that the world is for lack of a better word, terrible. Which reminds me, I had a bath this week. I detest baths and yet I keep getting them. Perhaps I will film a documentary on that horror. Until next week, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: FLOW (2024) HBO MAX**

Hands down the best Oscar award of the night this past Sunday went to this absolute must see masterpiece. This was a tremendous year for animation with three powerhouse films, The Wild Robot, Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Flow all competing for the prize. Honestly, all of them deserved the Oscar and if I had it my way it would have been a three-way tie with each of them taking home a statue. But if we were splitting hairs, Flow would have been my choice for the win. This visually stunning brilliantly told story became the first Oscar for the country of Latvia and a huge congratulations to them. If you see no other film this year, see this one.

Telling its tale with absolutely no dialogue at all, we find out that humans are gone. Empty houses, empty broken boats. Nothing. Animals, however, have survived. And one of them is a little charcoal cat with big bright gold eyes. The cat is suddenly startled by animals all running away in herds and it realizes something terrifying is coming. The cat runs into a friendly golden retriever who takes a shine to it, but the cat wants nothing to do with the dog. Especially since the dog appears to have other canine friends. The cat heads to its home, a beautiful place with cat statues all over the yard and a just finished sketch of it lies on a desk upstairs with no artist in sight. As the cat looks out the window, it finds the water is rising. Fast. It finds it must leave the house and climb up to the top of a gigantic stone cat structure much like climbing to the top of a large building. And yet the water continues to rise.

Much to the cat’s luck, a sailboat appears on the horizon. The cat struggles to swim to it and when it gets on board, it finds out it is inhabited…by a capybara. Turns out the capybara is kind as well as bright and resourceful. As they sail for awhile the golden retriever catches up to them as well as a meerkat obsessed with shiny things. The four begin to work together as they take a harrowing aquatic journey in search of food and dry land.

Happy Oscar Weekend!

February 27, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good morning. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to tell you yesterday was most horrifying. I was lying on my pillow in the office around nine-thirty in the morning when my novelist suddenly snatched me up and whisked me off into the car. Mind you, I had a comfortable blanket to lay on but that didn’t prepare me for one of my most strenuous mornings of this year. I was driven directly to the vet for a checkup. A checkup! I could not believe it. I thought my professional toothbrushing last summer was enough. But no. Apparently, I was due for my rabies shot. And another horrific shot. And then a blood-draw. At first, I thought all I had to do was look cute and stand on the scale. But the doctor came in and checked my heart which was beating like a mad drum. My novelist just stood there and let them paw me. I mean the nerve! Afterwards I was taken to the dreaded back room where the real horror befell me. There was no use in screaming for help. I was trapped. After the nightmarish ordeal I was whisked home as if the whole thing was perfectly normal. I am sore and traumatized and tired. It took everything I had just to get out of bed this morning. I am not speaking to my novelist right now. What happened yesterday was the most unforgivable affair. I shall have to spend the entire rest of the week and all weekend trying to recover. Until next Thursday, I bid you a most nerve-jangling adieu. And Happy Oscar Day on Sunday!

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: THE WILD ROBOT (2024)-PEACOCK**

One of the strongest Oscar categories this year, if not the strongest, is Best Animated Film, and this week’s pick is one of the finest of the five. Not only is this movie stunningly beautiful but the story is top notch as well. In addition to Best Animated Film, the movie is also nominated for Best Sound and Best Original Score for Kris Bowers.

Based on the beloved children’s book of the same name by Peter Brown who co-wrote the script this marvelous tale written and directed by Chris Sanders starts with a shipwreck. A humanoid style robot ROZZUM Unit 7134 or Roz for short (beautifully voiced by Lupita Amondi Nyong’o), wakes up and finds herself alone in the wilderness. She is factory programed to be a helper to her owner. She tries to assist the woodland creatures on the otherwise uninhabited island but finds them to be less than welcoming and injures herself in the process. Shortly after, she is chased by a grizzly bear named Thorn (Mark Hamill) and accidentally falls onto a goose nest crushing both parents and all but one of the eggs.

Determined to protect the one remaining egg she carries it with her but runs into an opportunist fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal) who tries to steal it from her. But Roz succeeds and the egg hatches. Roz suddenly finds herself a mother to a Canadian Goose and names it Brightbill (Kit Conner). Brightbill turns out to be the runt. But Roz is determined to make it a proud member of the island’s gaggle of geese.

Tripping

February 20, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good morning. It is I Gigi the parti poodle and today I have been whisked off to the great beyond. My novelist has decided to take me off on an adventure. I am terrified, of course, as I am terrible at traveling inside automobiles. However, it is better than being left with a babysitter. My novelist told me she was going to leave me with my usual guardian, but the guardian said they could not fit me into their schedule today. So, here I am, the fearless traveler on route to…somewhere. Perhaps to the mountains or the ocean. Maybe we shall hop on a train and have lunch as we watch the landscapes pass by. We could go shopping. I love to go shopping. I can always use a new chew toy…or a diamond studded collar. Maybe we’ll take in a movie or a museum. The world is my oyster today. I don’t think Bernard D. Bunny is happy about it though. He gave me that look when I was climbing into the car. I barked to him that I would try and bring him back a souvenir. I don’t even think that appeased him. When I get back, I’ll tell you how it went. Until next week, I wish you happy travels.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: A DIFFERENT MAN (2024)-HBO MAX**

This smart unique little film received well-deserved Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar nominations for Mike Marino, David Presto and Crystal Junado. It also won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy for Sebastian Stan’s fabulous performance. Sebastian Stan is having a much-deserved banner year and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for the movie The Apprentice. It is a shame that A Different Man didn’t receive an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay as it is a terrific story from top to tail written by Aaron Schimberg who also directs this engaging cautionary tale.

Edward (Sebastion Stan) is a man who suffers from Neurofibromatosis which causes him a disfiguring facial condition. He works as an actor, getting jobs in corporate films for sensitivity workplace training. His new neighbor Ingrid Vold (Renate Reinsve), an aspiring playwright, befriends him and he starts to fall in love with her. One day he goes in to see his doctor who tells him about another doctor who is doing a study involving experimental medical treatment for Edward’s condition. Edward, who has always dreamed of being physically attractive, decides to take the risk. He is skeptical but holds out hope it might work, and Ingrid might develop feelings for him.

As he begins the treatment, strange things begin to happen to his body, and he becomes frightened wondering if it is working or not. But nothing prepares him for the nightmarish events which follow, including meeting his own doppelganger, a man named Oswald (Adam Pearson).

Roadblocks

February 13, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. Gigi the parti poodle here and I am delighted to announce most of our snow has melted and I am again going for walks. My novelist has been feverishly working on her novel which concerns me. As many of you writers out there know it is difficult to firstly choose a subject to write about and secondly after you’ve chosen one how to handle the many roadblocks which will inevitably arise. My novelist detests roadblocks. They keep her up at night, often trying to figure out every misstep she might have made. I try to convince her that all writers make mistakes and to “carry on” as our wise neighbors across the pond would say. And she does, but still, she remains concerned. She is a writer who embraces research as well. Even if it is research which may be a bit futuristic where you must follow the logical chain of science beyond what has already been discovered to where the trajectory of that discovery leads. Before she began writing her present novel, she had written a science fiction book which required her to do so and was debating on writing another one and the one she chose. She has confided in me it may have been easier to write the science fiction book. Pragmatism and logic come to her more readily than, dare I say, feelings. She is more comfortable writing a hero’s journey than a heroine’s. Solitude is her weapon as it were, not her enemy. But I have faith she will find her way to the end of the story. She has with all but one of the others. I, in the meantime, shall scribble away at my short stories and see what I can concoct. Until next week, I bid you a happy adieu.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: CONCLAVE (2024)-PEACOCK**

Winner of the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay for its writer Peter Straughan and nominated for eight Academy Awards, this taut thriller based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris takes a unique twist on the mystery/thriller genre. Set in the Vatican where the Pope (Bruno Novelli) has just passed away from a heart attack, Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (brilliantly played by Oscar Nominee Ralph Fiennes) finds himself tasked with the daunting job of leading a conclave to elect a new pope.

Lawrence is conflicted about the job as he is struggling with his faith, mostly with praying. And it doesn’t help as he tries to figure out which candidates are worthy of the position, and which are not. Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci) from the United States is a favorite liberal candidate who believes if Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) a favorite conservative candidate from Italy is elected he could put the Church back decades. Cardinal Joshua Adeyemi of Nigeria (Lucian Msamati), a social conservative candidate is also a favorite. Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow), a moderate from Canada, another popular candidate, was the last person to speak to the Pope before he died. According to Janusz Woźniak (Jacek Koman) the prefecture of the papal household claims that on the night the Pope died of a heart attack, the Pope demanded Tremblay’s resignation all which Cardinal Tremblay denies. And then there is the mysterious last-minute arrival of Archbishop Vincent Benitez (Carlos Diehz) of Kabul, who after some investigation turns out to be a cardinal in pectore a position the deceased Pope secretly bestowed upon him one year prior.

Never Leave a Poodle With a Babysitter

January 31, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. I am Gigi the parti poodle and I am upset. Yesterday, without warning my novelist took off and left me home alone. I couldn’t believe it. I was entirely by myself. I detest being left by myself. I heard all sorts of strange noises outside that horrified me. I had to bark at Alexa to play soothing music for dogs.

I was all alone from 9:45AM until 2:20PM. That’s when the Dogsitter arrived. I was taken outside and then returned indoors. The Dogsitter then prepared my lunch. I of course refused to eat. My novelist was not home, and I was not about to dine until she was. This young person, this Dogsitter, was not going to make me dine either. And I went on a proper food strike. The Dogsitter soon grew tired of me and left me to my own devices. I spent most of my time lying on the couch thinking about a nice slice of roasted chicken. I would occasionally wander over to the front door and whine wishing for my novelist to return. I penned my sorrows in my notebook. I could think of nothing creative to say except how heartbroken I was over this unspeakable act of abandonment.

It was not until almost seven thirty in the evening that I saw my beloved novelist again. I ran to the door and jumped up and down and up and down catching magnificent air. Joy had returned to me once again. But not before I reprimanded her for abandoning me. How could she do such a horrific thing? She said, “But I had the Dogsitter come and make sure you were well.” How does that account for you leaving me on my own for over four hours and then not returning home until after seven in the evening? Outrageous! She told me she needed to go visit a relative. After this heated discussion she prepared my dinner, and I ate it voraciously. Next time she had better take me with her. Until next week, don’t let your novelist run amuck.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: A REAL PAIN (2024)-HULU**

This week’s pick is an excellent, sometimes humorous, sometimes sobering buddy road picture nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Kieran Culkin and Best Original Screenplay for Jesse Eisenberg who in addition to writing the script also stars in and directed the film. The story opens in a New York Airport where laid-back Benji Kaplan (Kieran Culkin) calmly waits for his high-strung cousin David Kaplan (Jesse Eisenberg) to arrive. David calls Benji on his cell phone multiple times asking if Benji is on his way to the airport, tells him about the traffic, all the while suspecting that Benji may be running late. David is surprised to see Benji is already there. The two of them are about to embark on a trip to Poland courtesy of their late grandmother who has given the money for them to travel there as part of her will. Her hope, it seems, is to both reunite the estranged cousins and have them take a Holocaust tour to see the Majdanek concentration camp where she was held captive and miraculously survived.

The two board the plane and fly to Poland where they meet the rest of the members of their tour which include James, the tour guide from England (Will Sharpe), Marcia (Jennifer Grey), Diane (Liza Sadovy), her husband Mark (Daniel Oreskes) and Rwanda genocide survivor Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan). As the tour commences Benji charms the members of the group while David, who suffers from OCD, largely remains on the outside. But here and there Benji acts irrationally both with David and around the other members of the tour as the two cousins face some of the darker aspects of their present and past relationship.

Happy Oscar Nomination Day!

January 23, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the Parti Poodle once again. My novelist is better recovered from her RSV this week and continues to steadily work on her novel. We of course took some time this morning to watch the Oscar nominations. We were heartbroken not to see Pamela Anderson receive a nomination for her work in The Last Showgirl. We are, however, intrigued by some of the other nominations for the films we have had a chance to see and others we have not. Amongst the most fascinating films we have not seen are The Substance, Anora, Conclave, I’m Still Here, The Brutalist and Flow. Amongst our favorite movies to get nominations we have seen are The Wild Robot, Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and A Complete Unknown. This, of course, gives us an excuse to attend some more films. I relish this as I am a popcorn fanatic. That is the best part of going to the theatre. I love to sit in the dark and partake of the crunchy snack. I adore sitting in the plush seat with the extendable footrest where I lie down on my blanket next to my novelist and lean over and eat popcorn out of the bag as the movie runs. Ah, the life of a parti poodle. And with that, here is my novelist’s stream of the week.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: THE ILLUSIONIST (2006)-AMAZON PRIME**

To celebrate Edward Norton’s well-deserved Supporting Actor Oscar Nomination for A Complete Unknown, here’s a smart fun stylish film of his from 2006 directed by Neil Burger and written by Neil Burger and Steven Millhauser who penned the short story “Eisenheim the Illusionist” the movie is based on. Gigi and I happened to rewatch this gem last week and are delighted to have a chance to feature it as our Stream of the Week.

In 1900’s Vienna, a young illusionist named Eisenheim (Edward Norton) astounds audiences wherever he goes with his wildly popular, fantastic and complicated illusion shows. One night he asks for a volunteer from the audience and a beautiful young aristocratic woman named Sophie (Jessica Biel) steps up on stage. Eisenheim recognizes her immediately as his childhood sweetheart, but he keeps their secret and brilliantly performs his trick. Unfortunately, Sophie is engaged to Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell). Leopold is a ruthless man with a reputation of killing women at his whim. He is a frighteningly powerful and possessive man and has his employed Inspector Uhl (the fantastic Paul Giamatti) and his policemen follow her around for her “protection” and of course to spy on her.

Inspector Uhl soon finds himself not only following Sophie but also investigating Eisenheim which ends up getting him pulled in deeper and deeper to the intrigue surrounding these three people until he finds himself on a collision course with his own conscience and an unexpected crime.

A fun fact about the film is instead of using CGI to create the illusions in the film Edward Norton trained under British Magician James Freedman and American Magician Ricky Jay. You can see one of the interviews about it here.

Animation Rules Supreme

January 9, 2025 ~ gigicatchesair ~ Leave a comment

Good afternoon. Gigi the parti poodle here to tell you it is official. I have a grooming appointment tomorrow morning at nine. As much as I dread going in, I do look forward to getting this infernal hair out of my eyes. Not to mention my overtly long nails. My novelist purchased an electric nail sander for me some time back, but I hated it when she used it. I will only allow a professional groomer to file my gorgeous claws. Around the same time my novelist also purchased an electric grooming set. Her attempts to shave me were horrifying, and I put a quick stop to that wicked habit. However, my insistence on having these things done by a competent professional has made it difficult for me to go up and down stairs as my nails are a bit long and I am having difficulty seeing through my flowing curls. A bit of a conundrum you see as my groomer was on vacation during the holiday season. Therefore, much to my sorrow, I will go tomorrow morning to be clipped and shaved and washed and filed. Such is the life of a poodle.

Bernard finds the whole grooming affair amusing. I must say though, it is easy to laugh when one is wild, has perfectly beautiful fur all the time, and does not require grooming. However, I do like the comfort of living in a temperature-controlled house, having my meals at times that I designate, and sleeping in an actual bed. Bernard is just jealous. But then who wouldn’t be jealous of such an astonishingly perfect example of Canis lupus familiaris. And with that, here is my novelist.

MY BOOKS

**STREAM OF THE WEEK: WALLACE AND GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL (2024)-Netflix**

The strongest movie category this year is animation. After suffering through some dull if not lousy storylines for the past few years, (except the shorts, and Ghibli Studios) 2024 animation is the shining star burning brighter than all the rest of the film categories. And that includes the ones that aren’t eligible for nomination for an Oscar because of archaic backwards thinking in Hollywood. And when more of these darlings are available on streaming, I will make it a point to feature them as my Stream of the Week.

Starting the list is this film from one of my favorite animation studios, Aardman. This is the second delightful and charming stop motion animation movie Nick Park has released in the past two years. Last year he gave us Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget that was unfairly snubbed by the Oscars. This year he has put together another whimsical delight for the senses aimed at kids aged one to one hundred. The film does an excellent job of being both visually stunning and entertaining while presenting a looming concern about the onset of AI and the sinister dangers it can cause when left in the hands of pure evil.

Park has dusted off a couple of his most famous characters, Wallace (voiced by Ben Whitehead) and Wallace’s best friend, Gromit. If you are not familiar with these two charming personalities, Gromit is Wallace’s wise non-talking dog and Wallace is an eccentric inventor who this time has come up with a “smart gnome” named Norbot (voiced by Reece Shearsmith). Wallace’s intent on creating the strange little creature was as a gift to Gromit to help with the dog’s chores. Gromit is skeptical of the invasive creature and is torn between making Wallace happy and disposing of this annoying little clay menace.

Meanwhile, over at the public zoo looms a captive by the name of Feathers McGraw, a psychopathic penguin who was once thwarted by Wallace and Gromit after trying to steal a large blue diamond. Being an evil mastermind as well as a tech savvy hacker, Feathers devises a plot not only to reprogram Norbot, but also to multiply the smart gnomes to carry out his vengeance most fowl.

Rounding out the cast are Lauren Patel who voices police officer PC Mukherjee and Peter Kay who voices Chief Inspector Mackintosh who together attempt to crack the case of the criminal smart gnomes.