Tani’s Top Ten- Best Romance Movies!

So, the past few weeks have been more painful than usual, so since it’s boiling hot out the best thing to do is either read or watch movies. Now, books are a whole different kettle of fish, but today I’d like to share with you my Top Ten of movies. And since I’m a girl, and therefore a major sucker for a good romance, let’s make this the Top Ten Romance Films of ALL TATIANA TIME. Enjoy!

Best Awkward-

In the mood for a hilariously awkward movie? Then there is nothing better than While You Were Sleeping. This is the story of a socially stunted girl (played to perfection by Sanda Bullock) who harbors a massive crush on one of her regular customers at the railroad ticket stand where she works. When he suffers an accident and falls into a coma, she is mistaken by his funky family as his fiancee. However, matters get complicated when she falls in love with his brother (Bill Pullman.) It all ends very well, though, with one of the best proposal scenes I have ever seen performed.

Best Classic-

It’s the classic stories that are often the best, and the 2005 movie adaptation of Pride And Prejudice is no exception. Proud Elizabeth Bennet (a charming Keira Knightly) and the equally proud Fitzwilliam Darcy (Matthew McFayden) seem made for each other- but they never stop arguing long enough to find this out. An excellent commentary on the importance of choosing a good spouse, and a must see for any young lady.  

Best Action

For all you tomboys out there, who like the swashbuckling and wit of an action-and-adventure but still enjoy a veneer of romance, the clear choice for a movie would be The Count Of Monte Cristo. In one of the rare cases where the movie adaptation is better than the book, Edmond Dantes (Notable Christian actor Jim Caviezel) is betrayed and thrown into the torturous Chateau D’If, but escapes with a plan of revenge. He is thwarted at every turn, however, by mentions of God and His forgiveness. With some excellent lines, plently of swordplay and intrigue, and some superb acting (though not from female lead Dagmara Dominczyk,) this movie is certainly the best of its genre. (An implied sexual encounter, no nudity or other nastiness.)

Best Play Adaptation-

Ah! Shakespeare! Nobody can ever match the depths of his wit when it comes to writing. And so, in its natural place as best play adaptation, Much Ado About Nothing sits supreme. If there was one thing Beatrice (Emma Thompson) and Benedick (director Kenneth Branagh) find more distasteful than each other, it is marriage. So when their friends scheme to get them together, it is a merry hell of humor, lies, insults, and insanity.

Best Cartoon-

Are you really ever too old for cartoons? Well, if that cartoon is Disney’s Tangled, the answer is a solid no. Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore) has lived her entire life in a hidden tower. When thief Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert (voiced by Zachary Levi) attempts to hide in her tower with his stolen booty, she blackmails him in to taking her outside for the first time. But neither of them could have expected to fall in love. With by far the most attractive male cartoon character ever created, this movie is perfect for all ages!

Best Fish-Out-Of-Water-

A mean, but very refined, boss (Sandra Bullock) is about to be deported due to an expired visa- and the only way she can save herself is by marrying her much put-upon assistant (Ryan Reynolds) in the movie The Proposal. He takes her to visit his wacky family in Sitka, Alaska, where she has to learn to hunt and sail and deal with the freezing water. Eventually, the two do fall in love, but it’s a long and hilarious road to that point. (One awkward scene involving nudity, though nobody is ever shown naked.)

Best Emotional-

A tale of hearts lost and found, Return To Me centers on widowed Bob (David Duchovny) and Grace (Minnie Driver,) the woman who got his late wife’s heart after an automobile accident. Full of situational irony, emotions, and sweet moments, this movie would have you in tears if not for the comedic relief of Grace’s grandpa and his three best friends- who lighten up the movie with some superb banter. Excellent, excellent film.

Best Foreign-

Another case of mistaken identity and initial dislike is what fuels The Decoy Bride. Poor and desperate to take her dying mother on a final trip, Katie (Kelly MacDonald) is bribed to take the place of famous-yet-ditzy movie star Lara (Alice Eve) when Lara runs away from paparazzi on her wedding day and is nowhere to be found. However, she accidentally signs her own name on the register, and so is legally married to author James (David Tenant.) In a search across the island of Hegg for the runaway Lara, and in between escaping from photographers, her and David actually begin to fall in love, which neither of them believed existed. Sweet without becoming sappy or annoying, this is a cute movie that is put together phenomenally for the genre.

Best Series-

Elizabeth Gaskell’s masterpiece North And South was adapted into a miniseries for the BBC. When Margaret (Daniela Danby-Ashe) and her family move from the idyllic south to the harsh north of England, she is disgusted by the dirtiness, by the poverty, and above all by the apparent callousness of mill owner Thornton (a very-if-I-wasn’t-a-Catholic-I’d-call-him-sexy Richard Armitage.) But tragedy and changing times throw them together in a love story that will make you want to watch it again and again. And again. And again. (I think I’m up to 23 times now.) Also features the best kiss ever in any movie ever.

And Finally… the Best All-Around Romance Film!

In what is quite possibly the sweetest movie to be made, a young Jane (Alyssa Milano) is separated from her imaginary friend Michael (Eric Winter) when she turns 10. 20 years later, and engaged to a self-obsessed actor, Michael appears again. The two fall in love, share food, kiss, make out, have adventures, and generally add sparkle to a dreary New York. Not to be confused with Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Sundays at Tiffany’s is a fabulous film, but not for kids (one short sex scene, no nudity.)

 

So, there you have it. My Top Ten list for romance and frill and frippery. Here’s to a fabulous fall, everybody!

Love to all!

-Tani

Designs!!

I had to remember to put these up. Enjoy!

 

Love to all! More designs will come… later…

A story of St. Michael.

Found on Facebook this morning-

The Letter from Michael…

There’s a story about a young Marine named Michael who wrote a letter home to his mother while he was in the hospital after having been wounded in Korea in 1950. A Navy Chaplain named Father Walter Muldy apparently was given the letter, checked the facts and concluded what was in the letter was true. A year later he read the letter in public for the first time, to a gathering of some 5,000 Marines at the Naval Base in San Diego. Here is the letter:

Dear Mom,

I wouldn’t dare write this letter to anyone but you because no one else would believe it. Maybe even you will find it hard but I have got to tell somebody. First off, I am in a hospital. Now don’t worry, ya hear me, don’t worry. I was wounded but I’m okay you understand. Okay. The doctor says that I will be up and around in a month.

But that’s not what I want to tell you.

Remember when I joined the Marines last year; remember when I left, how you told me to say a prayer to St. Michael every day. You really didn’t have to tell me that. Ever since I can remember you always told me to pray to St. Michael the Archangel. You even named me after him. Well I always have.

When I got to Korea, I prayed even harder. Remember the prayer that you taught me? “Michael, Michael of the morning, fresh chord of Heaven adorning,” you know the rest of it. Well I said it everyday. Sometimes when I was marching or sometimes resting. But always before I went to sleep. I even got some of the other fellas to say it.

Well, one day I was with an advance detail way up over the front lines. We were scouting for the Commies. I was plodding along in the bitter cold, my breath was like cigar smoke.

I thought I knew every guy in the patrol, when along side of me comes another Marine I never met before. He was bigger than any other Marine I’d ever seen. He must have been 6’4″ and built in proportion. It gave me a feeling of security to have such a body near.

Anyway, there we were trudging along. The rest of the patrol spread out. Just to start conversation I said, “Cold ain’t it.” And then I laughed. Here I was with a good chance of getting killed any minute and I am talking about the weather.

My companion seemed to understand. I heard him laugh softly. I looked at him, “I have never seen you before, I thought I knew every man in the outfit.”

“I just joined at the last minute”, he replied. “The name is Michael.”

“Is that so,” I said surprised. “That is my name too.”

“I know,” he said and then went on, “Michael, Michael of the morning …”

I was too amazed to say anything for a minute. How did he know my name, and a prayer that you had taught me? Then I smiled to myself, every guy in the outfit knew about me. Hadn’t I taught the prayer to anybody who would listen. Why now and then, they even referred to me as St. Michael. Neither of us spoke for a time and then he broke the silence.

“We are going to have some trouble up ahead.”

He must have been in fine physical shape or he was breathing so lightly I couldn’t see his breath. Mine poured out in great clouds. There was no smile on his face now. Trouble ahead, I thought to myself, well with the Commies all around us, that is no great revelation. Snow began to fall in great thick globs. In a brief moment the whole countryside was blotted out. And I was marching in a white fog of sticky particles. My companion disappeared.

“Michael,” I shouted in sudden alarm.

I felt his hand on my arm, his voice was rich and strong, “This will stop shortly.”

His prophecy proved to be correct. In a few minutes the snow stopped as abruptly as it had begun. The sun was a hard shining disc. I looked back for the rest of the patrol, there was no one in sight. We lost them in that heavy fall of snow. I looked ahead as we came over a little rise.

Mom, my heart stopped. There were seven of them. Seven Commies in their padded pants and jackets and their funny hats. Only there wasn’t anything funny about them now. Seven rifles were aimed at us.

“Down Michael,” I screamed and hit the frozen earth.

I heard those rifles fire almost as one. I heard the bullets. There was Michael still standing. Mom, those guys couldn’t have missed, not at that range. I expected to see him literally blown to bits. But there he stood, making no effort to fire himself. He was paralyzed with fear. It happens sometimes, Mom, even to the bravest. He was like a bird fascinated by a snake. At least, that was what I thought then. I jumped up to pull him down and that was when I got mine I felt a sudden flame in my chest. I often wondered what it felt like to be hit, now I know..

I remember feeling strong arms around me, arms that laid me ever so gently on a pillow of snow. I opened my eyes, for one last look. I was dying. Maybe I was even dead, I remember thinking well, this is not so bad. Maybe I was looking into the sun. Maybe I was in shock. But it seemed I saw Michael standing erect again only this time his face was shining with a terrible splendor. As I say, maybe it was the sun in my eyes, but he seemed to change as I watched him. He grew bigger, his arms stretched out wide, maybe it was the snow falling again, but there was a brightness around him like the wings of an angel. In his hands was a sword. A sword that flashed with a million lights. Well, that is the last thing I remember until the rest of the fellas came up and found me. I do not know how much time had passed. Now and then I had but a moment’s rest from the pain and fever. I remember telling them of the enemy just ahead.

“Where is Michael,” I asked.

I saw them look at one another. “Where’s who?” asked one.

“Michael, Michael the big Marine I was walking with just before the snow squall hit us.”

“Kid,” said the sergeant, “You weren’t walking with anyone. I had my eyes on you the whole time. You were getting too far out. I was just going to call you in when you disappeared in the snow.”

He looked at me, curiously. “How did you do it kid?”

“How’d I do what?” I asked half angry despite my wound. “This marine named Michael and I were just …”

“Son,” said the sergeant kindly, ” I picked out this outfit myself and there just ain’t another Michael in it. You are the only Mike in it.”

He paused for a minute, “Just how did you do it kid? We heard shots. There hasn’t been a shot fired from your rifle. And there isn’t a bit of lead in them seven bodies over the hill there.”

I didn’t say anything, what could I say. I could only look open-mouthed with amazement.

It was then the sergeant spoke again, “Kid,” he said gently, “every one of those seven Commies was killed by a sword stroke.”

That is all I can tell you Mom. As I say, it may have been the sun in my eyes, it may have been the cold or the pain. But that is what happened.

Love, Michael

********

We have search the internet trying to find the Marine soldier named Michael’s prayer which he said every morning. Finally, we found a saintly elderly priest, Fr. Joseph Reitz, who knew the prayer. Here it is:

Michael, Michael, of the morning,
Fresh chord of Heaven adorning,
Keep me safe today
And in time of temptation,
Drive the devil away.

This prayer should be prayed upon rising every morning.

All I can say here is WOW.

Love to all!

-Tani

“Be Kind.”

I’m sure that, by now, most of you have seen the “be kind” car decals that keep cropping up.  They’re small and green and shaped like cute flowers, and the perfect way to make you look like a great person and a little bit of a holier-than-thou. Recently, a school about two blocks from my family parish made a cute mosaic of it on the wall.

Adorable, ain’t it?

Anyway, it got me to thinking. What does “be kind” really mean? It’s an abstract, soft, pansy little thing to say when you really can’t think of anything better to say about one’s behavior. And really, kind? Is it not kind, from a certain angle, to abort down syndrome children in the womb or euthanize the elderly, lest they suffer on for years? Is it not kind to pay for your child’s drug addiction if they can’t pay it for themselves? Or perhaps to target black people for murder, so that white people have better access to resources? From a certain standpoint, all of these are kind things to do.

Kind is a loose and relative term, changing from person to person. I think it is kind to leave my unwanted roosters out in the desert, for a quick death to hungry coyotes. However, I know many people would see this as sick or evil. If everyone has different idea of kind, than all of our competing ideas of kindness will cancel each other out eventually.

Perhaps saying this is more of a way to justify oneself, the way a person who drives a prius feels justified in their eco-savvyness, when in reality a prius put more strain on the environment than a gas-powered car. Saying “be kind” will never make anyone be kind, but rather present the person touting the saying as a kind, caring, and generous person, without giving them any of the strains or problems that go along with those virtues. Paying $2 for a sticker is a small price to pay for the esteem of passing drivers, aye?

But really, we should be kind, but in the only true way of being kind, that of Jesus Christ. The Works of Mercy are the best way to show kindness to our fellow men. A list:

   The Corporal Works of Mercy
                 To feed the hungry
                To give drink to the thirsty.
                To clothe the naked.
                To visit and ransom the captives.
                To shelter the homeless.
                To visit the sick.
                To bury the dead.            

The Spiritual Works of Mercy
                To admonish sinners.
                To instruct the ignorant.
                To counsel the doubtful.
                To comfort the sorrowful.
                To bear wrongs patiently.
                To forgive all injuries.
                To pray for the living and the dead.

To close, perhaps whenever you see one of those noxious “be kind” decals, you could try to do one of the above, even if it’s something as small as a prayer.

I hope today’s deep thoughts were deep enough for y’all… I have been rather vapid and mediocre in my writing lately, and I apologize.

Love to all!

-Tani

Protected: Let’s finish this, shall we? (Contraception series part the last!)

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

St. Maria Goretti- and why you should emulate her!

Hello, ladies and gents, and the random people from the Philippines that keep showing up (don’t ask me why.)

Yesterday was an important feast day of a very great saint, and not just for Catholics. I am sure that even my wonderful protestant friends can learn from Maria Goretti!

Most of you should know her story- a beautiful and kind girl who lived in a house with a family whose teenage son was addicted to pornography. The young man, named Alessandro, caught Maria alone in the house, and attempted to rape her. Maria refused to comply, telling him that it was a sin and that he woukd go to hell. She fought valiantly, angering the man, and he stabbed her repeatedly. She succumbed to her injuries a few hours later, and Alessandro was sent to prison. Many years later, while still in prison, Alessandro received a vision of Maria giving him flowers, one for each stab wound. He repented, and when he was let out he lived as the doorkeeper and gardener for a local monastery.

Now, why is she a saint? Is it because she defended her purity? Because she died defending it? Was it even her sweet, obedient life?

No. It was because she would rather die than let Alessandro sin. She herself would have been guiltless, since she did not sin willingly. But no. She was so desperate than Alessandro not go to hell, so loving to him even when he was going to kill her, that she died rather than see him sin.

We can all learn from this- it’s not just about our own holiness, it’s also about making sure the people around us go to heaven as well. There’s a balance in between caring for others and caring for ourselves. Maria Goretti found it, and that is why she is a saint.

That said, expect the last contraception post, finally! If you are able to get on and can handle it, the password is goretti (all lowercase.)

Love to all!

-Tani