Category Archives: Film Reviews

Many Beautiful Things Coming!

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Believe in the darkness what you have seen in the light. ~ Lilias Trotter

Now, here’s a movie I can really get behind. Many Beautiful Things has just been put on my Must See Movies List. And best of all, Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary Crowley) of Downtown Abbey fame is starring in it.

This movie is based on the life of artist Lilias Trotter and the setting is Victorian England. The storyline involves art, dreams, talent and true callings.  Wants verses desires, and conflict between lady vs. herself are all in this heart-stirring movie. All things good stories are  made of!

According to the website, this movie began premiering in national theatres February 6 -14. If it doesn’t come to your local theatre, a DVD of this movie will be released in time for International Women’s Day. Shop on the movie website for it along with these other products:  Lilia’s Trotter’s 1876 Sketchbook and 1889 Sketchbook and a children’s book Lily: The Girl Who Could See or Parables of the Cross. Why not put them all in  your shopping cart?

Here’s the trailer which will give you a little insight into this movie that looks very promising for a very fulfilling evening of entertainment!

See you tomorrow! We will see what other beautiful or good news we can dig up. This  blog is brought to you by award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All Things Must Pass

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Happy Film Friday! A documentary film for music lovers is the subject of today’s blog on All Things Fulfilling.

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According to MovieInsider.com, All Things Must Pass will be released October 16, 2015. This film is about a company that began in a drugstore and grew to a $1 billion dollar industry by 1999. Many claim the beginning of selling music over the internet lead to the demise of Tower Records. This company, which was birthed some thirty years previously, was forced to close due to technology advances.

Many changes have taken place since the days of  going to a brick and mortar music store to buy vinyl records. The need to purchase cds in this digital age has been replaced with downloading sounds to MP-3 players, cellphones, computers and other digital devices.  Any time of day or night you can add to your library of audio sounds. Convenience for the consumer through e-commerce has become of utmost importance in this busy world of ours.

To read more about All Things Must Pass and to watch the movie trailer please , visit this website. http://www.movieinsider.com/m13326/all-things-must-pass/#plot

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Have a terrific weekend everybody. See you on Monday.

This blog is brought to you by the EVVY award-winning author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

Film Friday: Vacation

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No matter what happens, travel gives you a story to tell. ~ Jewish Proverb

Are you ready for the 7th remake of National Lampoon’s 1983 movie Vacation? The release date is July 29, 2015. Besides Chevy Chase, Christina Applegate and Ed Helms also star in this comedy about a family who encounters many misadventures on while on their trip to Wally World and their white water rafting adventure. Scenes were filmed at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, North Carolina as well as in Atlanta, Georgia.

The father, Rusty Griswold, sets out to spend quality time with his wife and kids and recreate his own theme park vacations from his childhood but things get more complicated than that when it doesn’t go very well. The movie is in typical National Lampoon style that keep audiences in stitches.

The movie is rated R, so it is not fit for families with young children. To read more about the plot and to watch a trailer, visit this link. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1524930/.

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Have a good weekend everyone. See you on All Things Fulfilling on Monday when we will be sharing about Art in the Park. The author of this blog is award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard.

Film Friday: Freedom Writers

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“To write means more than putting pretty words on a page; the act of writing is to share part of your soul.”

Most writers would tell you the reason they write is because they have to. There is something fulfilling in it that is often difficult to explain.

Whether writing a fictional story, recording past experiences in the form of a memoir, sharing information and knowledge or creating poetry, there is something freeing and fulfilling in the process.

On this film Friday, I’d like to introduce our readers to a movie that was released back in 2007 called Freedom Writers: Our Story Our Words. The movie stars Hilary Swank as a high school teacher in California. It is about the power of journal writing to help students communicate their feelings and frustrations in their lives. The power of writing is transformative to the lives of many of these inner city students.

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If you have not seen this movie, check this movie out! The Freedom Writers Foundation will also be of interest to educators.

See you back here on All Things Fulfilling on Monday! This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard.

Film Friday: Outdoors Adventure

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Thanks to a posting I saw on www.cruxcollective.com I became aware of a documentary film of interest in the outdoor adventure movie category.

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Valley Uprising http://reelrocktour.com/ is a film about extreme athletes who climb to explore massive cliffs, crags, boulders and rocks in Yosemite National Park in high up places. They are a whole culture of adventurous souls who are the next generation of outdoorsmen who flock to this area and find their “religion and fulfillment” in rock climbing.

Red Bull Magazine says it’s “The best climbing film ever made.”

It won the Grand Prize at the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Just one award among several others.

Worthy of attention, I am sure, although I have yet to see it.  I am putting this film on my 2015 list of films not to miss! Sounds like a nice evening of adventure from the comfort of my living room. Yet, Yosemite is on my National Park Wish List to see upclose some day.

Valley Uprising

This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard. For information on her award-winning publication Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and her new book of stories Lessons of Heart and Soul,

visit this website http://www.allthingsfulfilling.com/about-the-book/.

Film Friday: Sleep Walk with Me

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“The greatest enemy of the spiritual life is the human tendency to sleepwalk through life.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

sleepwalk-with-me-blu-ray-cover-99From the producers of This American Life comes a film that has been critically acclaimed by some of the top film festivals in the country. Released in 2012, Sleep Walk with Me, a film from Mike Birbiglia, is about a stand-up comic whose anxiety causes a sleepwalking habit that becomes both a problem and a source of hilarity.

The film is a Sundance Film Festival top favorite among the audiences. And also a “Winner” in the SXSW (South by Southwest) Film Festival a few years back.

To watch the trailer and to read more about this film, please visit this website http://watch.sleepwalkmovie.com/

To learn more about the radio show This American Life, which is broadcast in more than 500 stations around the country, and has a following of 2.1 million listeners,please follow this link http://www.thisamericanlife.org/listen/stations. You can find information on how to tune listen in from your area on the website. Archived broadcasts of this American Life radio show are also available to download through podcasts or  on an phone app. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/listen/mobile.

What are you doing this weekend? How are you living this American life? Going through the days sleepwalking or fully engaged in all the good things life has to offer? See you back here on All Things Fulfilling on Monday. Until then, check out these sites:

http://personalexcellence.co/blog/sleepwalking/
http://yourhappyplaceblog.com/2014/03/25/are-you-sleepwalking-through-life/
http://bit.ly/1uJBTGy
This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author, Sue Batton Leonard. For more information on her memoir Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, please visit this link http://amzn.to/141aW6S.

Premiering Today: Alone Yet Not Alone

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“This is a well-written adventure told from the point of view of an intelligent, observant, and mature girl on the brink of adolescence, with a knack for sharing relevant detail.” ~ Publishers Weekly

Happy Film Friday! Arriving in theatres today is a movie brought to you by Enthuse Entertainment, an independent film production company.  Alone Yet Not Alone  is based on a real life account of a family during a time in history when British and French troops were struggling for control over the abundant resources in the new territory called America.

Despite increasing stresses and hardships around them, the Leininger family gives thanks and praise for the beauty surrounding them in nature and for their newly-found treasured right of “the freedom to worship.” The family had fled Germany to avoid religious persecution.

Through a terrible ordeal, when the two Leininger daughters are kidnapped by the natives,  the Leninger’s find security in their belief that what their homestead and their land would not provide, they would find fulfillment in God’s promise.

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To watch trailers of this movie, and to learn more about the plot, the cast and the making of the movie, please visit this link. http://www.aloneyetnotalone.com/photosvideos

Do return on Sunday. We will be honoring all fathers, including my own, whom I have also honored in my memoir Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. Sue’s memoir

 

 

Take in a Winter’s Tale

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Winter is the season in which people try to keep the house as warm as it was in the summer, when they complained about the heat. ~Author Unknown

Looking for a movie to take your sweetie to this Valentine’s Day? Winter’s Tale is arriving in theatres today! Some reviewers are calling the film “The best date movie.”

winters_tale_ver5Winter’s Tale is a story that takes place in New York at the end of the 20th century. The narrative involves love, miracles and destiny, between an Irish burglar Peter Lake and a young heiress, Beverly Penn, who resides in the mansion he is about to rob. The unexpected twists in the tale bring good and evil together for a fulfilling film.

Akiva Goldsman, Director of A Beautiful Mind, has written and directed this screenplay as an adaptation of Mark Helprin’s book of the same title. http://markhelprin.com/novels/winters-tale. Actors starring in the lead roles are Colin Farrell and Jessica Brown Findley. Other notables include William Hurt and Russell Crowe. To read a full summary of the movie and to see the full list of cast and crew, please visit the website www.winterstale.com.

Appreciate having the gift of having a special friend in your life this Valentines Day, even if there is no romantic attachment. Enjoy however you plan to celebrate!

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! Thanks for visiting this site!

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This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. More to come on All Things Fulfilling on Monday! Look forward to having you back!

Film Friday: Miracle Dogs

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There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face–Ben Williams

Dubbed “man’s best friend,” dogs have been the subject of research on the health benefits of owning a pet. Overall, people who own dogs tend to be healthier according to this http://www.livescience.com article. http://bit.ly/1i9UYZw.

I’ve had the companionship of a dog for the majority of my life. We lost our 17 year old “Sasha” about 3 years ago, and life doesn’t quite seem the same without having a pooch around. I miss having a dog to greet us when we come home. And most of all, I miss having a walking companion. Walking with a dog adds extra purpose to every step. Owner and pet stay fit – mentally, physically and spiritually – that is if you believe dogs have a spiritual life. They do seem to have an exalted adoration for people who feed them!

I believe that loving a pet of any kind has the same kind of benefits that come with caring for others through volunteer work. Both allow a person to step outside of their own wants and needs and care about someone else, which breeds fulfilling feelings.

marc and pup pupI do have an adorable little pup-pup that I’m able to see every so often. I call her my dingo grand doggie –  her name is  Weston. She’s owned by my son. I don’t believe I will be without a dog forever, but right now, it’s for the best.

My Film Friday movie suggestion “Miracle Dogs Too: An Inspirational Tale” might be a little sappy. But for those who believe that the relationship between dog owners and their pets has a healing connection you might enjoy watching it. Click here for info and ordering

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See you on Monday! Have a great weekend. Marc – hang in there, Weston’s puppy behaviors will pass. Be patient, be committed and be consistent. And you already know what will follow “All things are possible for those who believe!” ~ The word according to the Bible.

Do return to All Things Fulfilling, where independent thoughts, words and views are all part of the business. This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Film Friday: Tim’s Vermeer

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Attention artists of all ages!  On January 31st, Tim’s Vermeer will be hitting theatres. Rated PG-13, this movie is even suitable for young students who have an interest in the arts, history and science.

Tim's Vermeer_The documentary is based on questions brought forth by Tim Jenison, a Texas video engineer and non-painter, regarding the famous painting The Girl with a Pearl Earring. Jenison goes on an adventure to Delft, Holland, the location of where the masterpiece was painted, in search of answers to his question. How did Dutch master painter Johannes Vermeer paint with such meticulous detail 150 years before photography was discovered? Jenison’s research project spans a decade. David Hockney, a Britishman, provides speculation and insight into the tools that Vermeer may have used. Were optical devices used to help Vermeer accomplish such an astonishing result?

There have been numerous articles published about this fascinating film. Here are a few links if you are interested in reading more about the documentary Tim’s Vermeer, and Jenison’s need to find out more about the technique used to paint The Girl with the Pearl Earring.

http://bit.ly/1dtMQ1f

http://bit.ly/1jm4UCE

http://nyti.ms/1cSySWB

Click here for info & ordering Tim’s Vermeer

I look forward to seeing this movie. Sounds like a documentary with fulfilling content for art history classes. Perhaps after it’s initial run in theatres, Sony Classic Pictures will make it  available for showing in public venues  such as in classrooms or by art councils and museums.

This blog is brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. See you on Monday. I will be featuring a woman who is a member of our We Write Steamboat group who has been making a name for herself since 1966 when she was featured on the TV show To Tell the Truth.