Movie Recommendation: The Luzhin Defence with Emily Watson

I watched this movie last night.  

https://tubitv.com/movies/670513/the-luzhin-defence

It is leaving TUBI this month so don't delay in watching it. It's FREE and I know you will love it. Filmed in 2000. I adore Emily Watson and she's wonderful in this film. 

"It's the early 1920s and Aleksandr Ivanovich 'Sascha' Luzhin (John Turturro), a gifted but tormented chess player, arrives in a Northern Italian city to compete in an international chess competition. Prior to the tournament he meets Natalia Katkov (Emily Watson) and he falls in love with her almost immediately. She in turn finds his manner to be appealing and they begin to see each other in spite of her mother's disapproval." The screenplay was based on the novel THE DEFENSE (or The Luzhin Defence) by Vladimir Nabokov.

Let me know if you watch it and if you liked it. It is streaming on Prime Video and Apple TV too. "You're welcome." Enjoy! xo

Current Obsession: KINGDOM on AcornTV

I just started watching this series on AcornTV last night and I'm hooked after three episodes. Watch trailer here. You can stream it on Amazon too, all three seasons. 

Stephen Fry (Jeeves and Wooster) stars in this "charming" (Examiner.com) British dramedy as Peter Kingdom, a compassionate solicitor running a law practice in a quaint and beautiful Norfolk town. As he handles the cases of his oddball clients, he also contends with the mysterious disappearance of his brother and the return of his wayward sister (Hermione Norris, Cold Feet).

First Grocery Store Run in Months

I ventured into the real world today at 10:00 this morning and went to the grocery store. The timing was perfect as was the experience. I found everything I needed and the store wasn't crowded. I have been shopping with curbside pickups at local small markets but they don't have coffee, avocado oil, and things like that. My local Shoprite had it all including Gold Medal Flour. My wire holder is full of fresh fruit and my pantry is well stocked once again.

I mentioned Tubi.TV, a FREE streaming service, in the comments recently and I am loving it. The movies are great, the commercials are short and the TV shows are amazing. I am watching Midsomer Murders in the TV section and they offer all 19 seasons. I suggest jumping in with season 14 with the new DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) Barnaby. He is a cousin of the old Barnaby who retired. He and his dog Sykes are alone in the first few episodes like two bachelors before his wife joins him. In short time she gets rid of all the boxes and decorates their charming cottage in Oxfordshire. She has great taste; I could move right in and not change a thing! The village is full of quirky characters and each episode has a crime that is solved. Set in the Cotswolds, the fictional town called Causton is actually filmed in the market town of Wallingford in Oxfordshire.

Let me know how you like Tubi. Download the app for your phone or iPad from the Apple App Store or Google Play for android devices. Watch on a computer too with my link. Enjoy. xo

THIS BEAUTIFUL FANTASTIC movie

This exciting news deserves a blog post all of its own! My favorite movie, pictured above, is now streaming free "on demand" on PLUTO TV under the ROMANCE category. I know many of you were disappointed when I blogged about its being on Kanopy through my library card. Sadly, not all libraries offer this free streaming service but PLUTO TV is free to everyone with a WiFi connection.

Here is the movie trailer for this charming film. I have seen it three times but I just might watch it again tonight in bed on my iPad. You are welcome!!! So far, everyone on this blog has enjoyed it and I hope you will like it too. 

xo, Rosemary

Cutting the Cord: I did it!

My two year contract was up with Verizon and I absolutely could not get my monthly bill down to a reasonable amount so I decided to get rid of my landline and cable and have WiFi only. A wonderful supervisor helped me. I decided to buy a new router from them because they will stand behind it should I have problems plus on new contracts they have started charging $12 per monthly rental fee. The new router came in 2 days and I hooked it up my self easily. With this new system, I can always add on services if I change my mind or feel deprived but I don't think I ever will.

I returned all of my old equipment for my three television sets and my multi room DVR to UPS with my order number and they boxed and returned everything. This was very painless. Last September I purchased a new in the box indoor HDTV antenna. The box is pictured above. I paid $1.00 for it and it works! At Walmart, it costs around $18.00. I moved my kitchen TV to the attic where I have a wonderful work space and so far, this is the only TV that works in my home. I stream everything else to my iPad(s). I get all of the networks including PBS and so much more. The only thing I have sacrificed is Turner Classic Movies but I can live without it. It took me a while to find the perfect way to position the ears and the circle and the direction (towards NYC) for bringing in PBS. I was able to get all the other stations easily but I guess PBS was the farthest away. Now I get several PBS stations and I won't miss anything on Sunday nights. I even found a local TV guide on "nocable.org".

I have found Pluto.TV to be much better than I ever imagined for streaming movies ON DEMAND. I honestly didn't ever explore anything on Pluto other than live TV. The on demand movies are awesome and the two or three commercials are extremely short. REALLY. I watched a 2006 movie with Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson called "Last Chance Harvey" and it was wonderful. Pluto is a free streaming service for your computer, ipad, phone, and other devices too for android users. I don't have a password or anything. It's so easy. One of these days I will get a ROCU or other device so I can stream to my TV but for now I am fine. I actually love watching movies on my iPad in bed. You can pull up all the movies on your computer here. Look at the banner across the top to switch to "live tv". You will need to download the app from the APPLE APP STORE for iPhone or iPad. Or Google for android devices. If your devices are too old, you might not be able to get all the services available. On my iPad 3 I cannot get on demand movies, just live tv. On my new iPad 6th Generation I get everything and can use my Apple Pencil which is amazing. Later. Ask me questions. I shall try to answer. xo

This is a view from one of my attic windows this morning showing my beautiful geraniums. Sorry this is a little rushed. I haven't been present in your lives lately with all my tree work and more. Have a great weekend. I will try to fill in the details about cord cutting and let you know how it's working out for me. xo, Rosemary

Two More Kanopy Movie Recommendations

A MAN CALLED OVE: I actually watched this on a DVD from my library but it is now on Kanopy so I want to watch it again. I blogged about the book before I saw the film (with subtitles).

Ove, an ill tempered, isolated retiree who spends his days enforcing block association rules and visiting his wife's grave, has finally given up on life just as an unlikely friendship develops with his boisterous new neighbors. Based on the bestselling novel.

I just read that Tom Hanks is producing and starring in an English language interpretation of this film. That should be good. I adore Tom Hanks!

THIS BEAUTIFUL FANTASTIC: A contemporary adult fairy tale revolving around the unlikely of friendship between a reclusive young woman with dreams of being a children's book author and a cantankerous widower, set against the backdrop of a beautiful garden in the heart of London.

Bella Brown (Jessica Brown Findlay) is a beautifully quirky young woman who dreams of writing and illustrating a successful children's book. When she is forced by her landlord to deal with her neglected garden or face eviction, she meets her nemesis, match and mentor in Alfie Stephenson (Oscar-nominated actor, Tom Wilkinson), a grumpy, loveless, rich old man who lives next door and happens to be an amazing horticulturalist.

This was the first movie I watched on Kanopy 8 months ago. I found it delightful. I loved all of the library scenes and the mean librarian too. Watch the movie trailer here.

Let me know if your public library offers Kanopy.

Two Good Movies from Kanopy via Your Public Library

Do you have KANOPY yet, the free movie streaming service accessed by your library card number? It is amazing. I watched these two movies this week and loved each one. If your library doesn't offer it yet, please ask them to consider getting it for the patrons. It's the best thing ever. It is also available through universities for students and faculty. I watch on my iPad because I don't have a smart tv or any of those attachments like Apple TV, Rocu, Chromecast, etc. Between Turner Classic Movies and Kanopy, I am never without a movie to watch. xo

Kanopy: Free Movies w/ Library Card

The public library from my old house is much closer to my cottage than the public library of the town where I pay taxes. Last month I turned in my old library card from 1975 (sniff) and got a new one from The Library of the Chathams because they had just gotten the KANOPY streaming service for card holders. I can stream 10 free movies per month and many of them are current Golden Globe winners.

These photos are screen shots from my laptop. Click either photo to enlarge. I pulled up Kanopy from the Madison NJ library so it wouldn't show my log-in information. Click here to see the website. Don't try to log in because you will need to log in to your own local library to see if they have Kanopy https://www.kanopy.com. Hope this isn't too confusing. Read the articles below first.

The New York Times wrote a great introduction to this service that streams 30,000 movies and documentaries. My librarian told me academics love it for the meaty content and many colleges offer it to students and staff. Even die-hard movie fans who see everything that comes out at movie houses will still find something they haven't seen. Read the article and be amazed. You can call your library to see if they have it or are planning on getting it. I am happy my library picked 10 as the number of free movies for members. The Morristown library near me only offers 6 to their members. It's an arbitrary choice for each library. If you live in a small town where they will never get this service, I remember reading somewhere that you can get it as an individual for $150.00 annually. That is about the same price as Amazon Prime though it doesn't stream TV shows. I would imagine an individual membership might offer unlimited access but I'm not sure. 

Anyway, I just wanted to make you aware that this exists. It streams to your computer, iPad, or phone or other mobile devices. You can stream through your TV with Apple TV or Roku or Chromecast too.

Check it out, I know you will love Kanopy. Hooray for Libraries!

PS: I had to mail something today and the postmaster said first class stamps are going up to 55 cents each starting 1/27/19 so buy some forever stamps before then.