My Incredibly Late Fall 19′ Wrap Up

Hey Guys!

I’m very aware that this post is INSANELY late, but I figured it was better late than never?

The past few months have been really busy, and I’ve sort of fallen behind on my Blog. It started with me slowly pushing a few posts back by a week or two.. and before I knew it, it’s Mid-March, and my last Wrap-Up was in August! So here is the long-coming “Fall 19 Wrap Up”. I rounded up all the best Movies, TV, Books, Music, and other things.. that I loved from September-January.

I had WAY more things to Review, but at this point I’m so backlogged with content/photos. I decided to just pick my TOP few favorites in each category.

I promise I will be way more on top of things, for the upcoming Winter 19/20 Blog Posts. Make sure to check for a January/February Wrap-Up coming very soon.

Hope you are all staying safe out there, during all this Covid-19 stuff. It’s been pretty scary seeing everything that’s been going on. Hopefully some of these Movie, Book, and TV Recommendations might come in handy, if you are self isolating at home this month 🙂

I’m currently isolating at home, so it’s the perfect time to get my Blog Posts back in action. Also I really need to get back into the reading zone. Over the last few months, I’ve been hardly reading at all. I think I was in a bit of a weird funk for a while, and just fell into a reading slump. So now is the perfect time to get after my “To Be Read” pile.

Thanks for sticking with me, sorry for the lack of content lately,

See you very soon,

xo,

Carly.

TV SHOWS

1.) “Succession”

Seasons 1 & 2

On HBO

10/10

For months, I had been hearing people talking about HBO’s smash hit show “Succession”. Everyone seemed totally obsessed with it, and I always had it in the back of my mind, as a show I really needed to check out. One lazy Sunday afternoon, Ryan was working on his laptop at home, and I was bored so I figured I would just throw on the first episode and see what it was like. Lets just say, within the first ten minutes Ryan had put his laptop away, and we were both absolutely hooked.

“Succession” is the perfect mix of family drama, high-powered business drama, and just so much brilliant character development. It’s full of amazing story-lines, clever jokes, and every single character is so interesting to watch. We devoured both seasons within weeks, and I will never ever stop talking about it/ forcing my friends to watch it. For the record, they have all loved it haha.

Also if you have seen it already, you know how hilarious Tom & Greg’s dynamic is. Probably my favorite part of the entire show.

Rotten Tomatoes Plot Blurb

(Peppering its pathos with acid wit, Succession is a divine comedy of absolute power and dysfunction — brought to vivid life by a ferocious ensemble.)

2.) “Unbelievable”

Limited Series

Currently Streaming on Netflix

This Netflix Mini-Series was a difficult show to watch, but it has a very powerful message.. and was so beautifully acted. “Unbelievable” is based on a true story, and I believe the Actors & Actresses did an amazing job bringing this heartbreaking, yet very important story to the screen. Kaitlyn Dever is such a young talent, and her portrayal of Marie was amazing. I think she’s going to be a huge star.

IMDB Plot Blurb

(Based on the true story of Marie, a teenager who was charged with lying about having been raped, and the two female detectives who followed the path to the truth.)

3.) “The Dark Crystal: The Age of Resistance”

Season One: Currently Streaming on Netflix

Wiki Blurb: “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is an American fantasy television series produced by Netflix and The Jim Henson Company. It is a prequel to the 1982 Jim Henson film The Dark Crystal that explores the world of Thra created for the original film. “

I can’t even begin to tell you how fucking THRILLED I was about this show being released. I will never EVER forget the first time I saw Jim Henson’s 1982 film “The Dark Crystal”. No movie has ever terrified me so deeply, except maybe for “E.T”. I absolutely loved Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth”, and while in hindsight I might have even loved “The Dark Crystal” even more… at the time I found it SO scary. The Gelfling’s were so creepy looking, and don’t even get me started on the Skeksis!

Now years later, I’ve watched it about 100 times more, and I even have a framed photo of the Gelfling Kira who once terrified me so much. Now I’m obsessed with her, and I’ve dressed up as her for Halloween way too many times.

So needless to say, when I saw Netflix was releasing a brand new series, a prequel to “The Dark Crystal”, done by the Jim Henson Company… I think I screamed out loud. I watched the entire season the day it was released, and it was absolutely perfect. The effects, the puppets, the film-making, the voice-work.. EVERYTHING was just brilliant. It was the most epic story, filled with great characters… so much detail went into every scene. I can’t even tell you how much I loved every single scene with Brea in the Library! Even if I didn’t have a huge nostalgic pull towards “The Dark Crystal”, I still would have adored this. Please watch!

IMDB Plot Blurb

(Returns to the world of Thra, where three Gelfling discover the horrifying secret behind the Skeksis’ power, and set out to ignite the fires of rebellion and save their world.)

MOVIES

1.) “Parasite”

Currently: Out on iTunes to Rent/Buy

10/10

PARASITE Wins 4 Oscars and Makes Oscar History. PARASITE is the film that took home the most awards at the Oscars 2020, winning four Academy Awards at tonight’s Oscars including Best Picture, Directing, International Feature Film and Writing (Original Screenplay). (from Google)

BEST movie I’ve seen all DECADE!

Ohhhhh my GOD this movie!!!!!! A few months ago, I had some time to kill one Afternoon, and I decided to go see a Matinee. I had heard some early Buzz about this foreign film “Parasite”, and I was intrigued. I had no idea what a huge success/ massively talked-about film it was about to become.

I got my popcorn, and settled in for the movie. I can’t even really explain the experience of seeing this movie for the first time in the theater. I knew virtually nothing about the plot, which I think added to the immersive experience. I have never been so drawn in to a story-line before, only to be completely shocked, and turned around minute to minute. This film is almost a mix of three different Genres, and it’s absolutely mind-blowingly great.

I don’t want to tell you anything about the plot, because I really loved the experience of going in blind.

Also as a Cinematography nerd, I immediately fell in love with EVERY. SINGLE. FRAME of this film. It it probably one of the most masterfully shot films I’ve ever seen. Every single scene, had multiple meanings, and symbolism.. and everything from the color tone, to the architecture..was just spot on. The Director Bong Joon Ho is a legend. He was able to convey the feeling and emotion of each scene, not only with the acting, but visually as well. I NEED to watch his other Film “Snowpiercer” like tonight.

Also watching “Parasite” absolutely DOMINATE at the Academy Awards, was the biggest thrill of my year.

2.) “Joker”

Currently: Out on iTunes to Rent/Buy

Winner of Best Actor, Academy Awards

“Joker” was a wild ride of a movie. It’s probably one of the darkest, and most disturbing films I’ve ever seen (but in an amazing artistically genius way). Joaquin Phoenix is a method actor, and he always completely gives himself to his roles.. almost actually becoming the character himself. This must have been a very dark few months for him, because this character is deeply disturbed.

I think this movie was a really brilliant combination of being a Joker origin story of sorts, as well as a social commentary on the way mental illness is treated/handled in our society. You really get to see into Arthur’s character, and sort of understand the trauma that shaped him, into the “villain” he is now known as (so to speak).

Also PS, that “stair dancing” scene is iconic. Just iconic.

IMDB Plot Blurb

(In Gotham City, mentally troubled comedian Arthur Fleck is disregarded and mistreated by society. He then embarks on a downward spiral of revolution and bloody crime. This path brings him face-to-face with his alter-ego: the Joker.)

3.) “Knives Out”

Currently: Out on iTunes to Rent/Buy

The most fun murder mystery thrill-ride ever!

This movie was SO much fun. It was like reading one of those classic Agatha Christie novels, or watching a Hitchcock film. It was also almost like watching this amazingly talented cast, act out a live game of “Clue”.

When the patriarch of this large family/ famous novelist dies mysteriously.. everyone is a suspect. Daniel Craig plays the lead Detective on the case, and he’s BRILLIANT. That being said, every single character is so hilarious, and full of so many sinister motives/skeletons in their closet.

I’ve never heard an entire theater laugh together in unison so much. It was honestly the most fun I’ve had watching a movie, in a long time. I’m still not quite over the crazy twists! Also this CAST is honestly just so jam-packed with stars.

Google Plot Blurb

(The circumstances surrounding the death of crime novelist Harlan Thrombey are mysterious, but there’s one thing that renowned Detective Benoit Blanc knows for sure — everyone in the wildly dysfunctional Thrombey family is a suspect. Now, Blanc must sift through a web of lies and red herrings to uncover the truth.)

BOOKS

1.) “The Turn of The Key”

By, Ruth Ware

8/10

“People do go mad, you know, if you stop them from sleeping for long enough…”

A few years ago, I read a really terrifying book called “The Ice Twins”, that was set it rural Scotland… and everything about it stuck with me. I’ve always been fascinated with Scotland, and I’m dying to go there on vacation (especially to the Isle of Skye). I’ve never read another book quite as atmospheric and creepy as “The Ice Twins”, and I’ve always been searching for something similar.

When I saw a Book-Tuber review this book on You-Tube, I was immediately fascinated by the plot. It was basically a modern creepy ghost story, about a Nanny who takes a job in rural Scotland. She is to move in, and be a live-in Nanny for three children, basically in the middle of nowhere. The parents of the children are away a lot for work, and during the initial interview they sort of let on, that it’s been hard to keep a Nanny employed given the “haunting rumors” etc. Not only is this all enough to hook me, but the house itself is kind of it’s own character. It’s a futuristic “smart home”, full of controlled lights, weird alarms, and more creepy camera things.

I was SO excited for this book, and while I did race through it, and ultimately enjoy it…. I was left a little bit underwhelmed. I think it’s because I had such high expectations.. and I also didn’t really love our main character.

Overall I really liked it, and I would highly recommend.

Good-Reads Plot Blurb

(When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.

Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the unravelling events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the cameras installed around the house, or the malfunctioning technology that woke the household with booming music, or turned the lights off at the worst possible time. It wasn’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults around apart from the enigmatic handyman, Jack Grant.

It was everything.

She knows she’s made mistakes. She admits that she lied to obtain the post, and that her behavior toward the children wasn’t always ideal. She’s not innocent, by any means. But, she maintains, she’s not guilty—at least not of murder. Which means someone else is.

Full of spellbinding menace and told in Ruth Ware’s signature suspenseful style, The Turn of the Key is an unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time.)

2.) “The Arrangement”

By, Robyn Harding

5/10

“Sometimes, we do things we don’t feel good about to survive. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person.” His sympathy, his assurance had brought her perilously close to tears. But she couldn’t cry about this. She had known what she was getting into. No strings.”

This book sounded kind of good, in a scandalous kind of way. While it was pretty interesting, and well written.. I just found it overall not great. The story-line was a bit weird, and at times kind of gross. Also the main character was so so awful. Just like nothing at all going for her in a good way, so it was impossible to sympathize with anything she did. Something about this just didn’t work for me at all. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend, but if you are looking for a quick read/thriller with a bit of a predictable/ridiculous plot.. this might be it.

Good-Reads Plot Summary

(Natalie, a young art student in New York City, is struggling to pay her bills when a friend makes a suggestion: Why not go online and find a sugar daddy—a wealthy, older man who will pay her for dates, and even give her a monthly allowance? Lots of girls do it, Nat learns. All that’s required is to look pretty and hang on his every word. Sexual favours are optional.

Though more than thirty years her senior, Gabe, a handsome corporate finance attorney, seems like the perfect candidate, and within a month, they are madly in love. At least, Nat is…Gabe already has a family, whom he has no intention of leaving.

So when he abruptly ends things, Nat can’t let go. She begins drinking heavily and stalking him: watching him at work, spying on his wife, even befriending his daughter, who is not much younger than she is. But Gabe’s not about to let his sugar baby destroy his perfect life. What was supposed to be a mutually beneficial arrangement devolves into a nightmare of deception, obsession, and, when a body is found near Gabe’s posh Upper East Side apartment, murder.)

3.) “The Selection Series”

Books #1-5

9/10

By, Kiera Cass

I was a bit bored in September, and I decided on a whim to order the first book in “The Selection Series”. This particular series has been hugely hyped up for YEARS, in the book lover community. It’s basically like a Young-Adult version of the “Royal Bachelor”, while being set in a corrupt “Hunger Games” like dystopian society. Pretty much the perfect little read for me. I devoured the first book in a day, and immediately ordered the next four books (internally cursing myself for not just buying the beautiful boxed-set in the first place).

I loved all of these books so very much, and it provided me with the ultimate angsty-teen escape read. It’s a bit YA for my taste these days, but it was a lot of fun. Also our main character America Singer, is such a bad-ass strong female. Really loved this. I also this this would be AMAZING as a Netflix series. I have a feeling I’m not the only one that thinks this 🙂

Good-Reads Plot Summary

(Thirty-five beautiful girls. Thirty-five beautiful rivals. . . And only one will claim Prince Maxon’s heart. THE SELECTION is the epic no. 1 New York Times bestselling series. Now available in a five-book boxed set. THE SELECTION is the chance of a lifetime and 17-year-old America Singer should feel lucky. She has been chosen for the reality TV lottery in which the special few compete for gorgeous Prince Maxon’s love. Swept up in a world of elaborate gowns, glittering jewels and decadent feasts, America is living a new and glamorous life. And the prince takes a special interest in her, much to the outrage of the others. Rivalry within The Selection is fierce and not all of the girls are prepared to play by the rules. But what they don’t know is that America has a secret – one which could throw the whole competition. . . and change her life forever. The story continues in THE HEIR and THE CROWN as America’s daughter undertakes her own Selection – who will she choose? Is she destined for true love?Prepare to swoon with all five books in THE SELECTION series!Author BiographyKiera Cass graduated from Radford University with a degree in History. She grew up in South Carolina and currently lives in Blacksburg, Virginia with her family. In her spare time, Kiera enjoys reading, dancing, making videos and eating unhealthy amounts of cake. You can learn more about Kiera at kieracass. com, follow her on twitter via @kieracass, and see her silly videos at YouTube. com/user/kieracass. – The Selection Series 1-5: The Selection, The Elite, The One, The Heir And The Crown By Kiera Cass (Paperback)

AUDIO-BOOKS

1.) “Inside Out”

By, Demi Moore

Narrated By, Demi Moore

9/10

“We all suffer, and we all triumph, and we all get to choose how we hold both.”

I don’t listen to a TON of Audio-Books, but since this book was a highly anticipated Memoir of mine.. and it just so happened to be narrated by the author Demi Moore herself.. I had to have it.

It gripped me from the first chapter, and it was eerie to her Demi read her own story. It went through her incredibly interesting (yet difficult) childhood, to her rise to stardom, and then examined her infamous marriages to Bruce Willis & Ashton Kutcher. After that she really opened up, and talked about her struggle with addiction, as well as her strained relationship with her daughters.

Parts of this memoir were hilarious, touching, juicy, educational, eye-opening.. and also at times very inspiring.

I didn’t know a whole lot about Demi Moore (other than some brief things I’ve read about her in the tabloids), and I’m so glad I listened to this one. I flew through it immediately.

(“Things happen in life to get our attention, to make us wake up. What does it say that I had to lose so much before I had to break down enough to rebuild? I think it says that the thing that got me here—this incredible toughness—was almost the thing that did me in. I got to a place where I could no longer just muscle through; I could either bend, or break.

I got here because I needed all of this to become who I am now. I had been holding on to so many misconceptions about myself all my life: that I wasn’t valuable, that I didn’t deserve to be anywhere good, whether that meant in a loving relationship on my own terms, or in a great film with actors I respected who knew what they were doing. The narrative I believed was that I was unworthy and contaminated. And it wasn’t true.

There are two reasons I wanted to tell this story, the story of how I learned to surrender. First, because it’s mine. It doesn’t belong to the tabloids, or my mom, or the men I’ve married, or the people who’ve loved or hated my movies, or even my children. My story is mine alone. I’m the only one who was there for all of it, and I decided to claim the power to tell it on my own terms. The second reason is that even though it’s mine, maybe some part of this story is yours too. I’ve had extraordinary luck in this life, both bad and good. Putting it all down in writing makes me realize how crazy a lot of it has been, how improbable. But we all suffer and we all triumph and we all get to choose how we hold both.”)- Demi Moore

Good-Reads Plot Summary

(Famed American actress Demi Moore at last tells her own story in a surprisingly intimate and emotionally charged memoir.

For decades, Demi Moore has been synonymous with celebrity. From iconic film roles to high-profile relationships, Moore has never been far from the spotlight—or the headlines.

Even as Demi was becoming the highest paid actress in Hollywood, however, she was always outrunning her past, just one step ahead of the doubts and insecurities that defined her childhood. Throughout her rise to fame and during some of the most pivotal moments of her life, Demi battled addiction, body image issues, and childhood trauma that would follow her for years—all while juggling a skyrocketing career and at times negative public perception. As her success grew, Demi found herself questioning if she belonged in Hollywood, if she was a good mother, a good actress—and, always, if she was simply good enough.

As much as her story is about adversity, it is also about tremendous resilience. In this deeply candid and reflective memoir, Demi pulls back the curtain and opens up about her career and personal life—laying bare her tumultuous relationship with her mother, her marriages, her struggles balancing stardom with raising a family, and her journey toward open heartedness. Inside Out is a story of survival, success, and surrender—a wrenchingly honest portrayal of one woman’s at once ordinary and iconic life.)

EVERYTHING ELSE

Over the past 4 months, I’ve been doing some other really fun random things. I have taken so many photos of all my adventures, and I figured I should post all my favorite shots from over the Fall season. It’s a good mix of Family, Fashion, Events, and other assorted shots.