Sherlock Holmes (2009)
It was the trailer for this movie that inspired me to finally read a little of the original Sherlock Holmes works. I'm happy Jon and I could see it in a theater. I loved it. I thought the characters fit very well with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories (as far as I'm acquainted with them, anyway). Of course the action was ridiculously over the top, but that's modern movie-making, isn't it? Anyway, I thought it was a lot of fun.
An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
I gave this, the seventh novel in the Outlander series, about 100 pages, and then I gave up. I loved the first three or four, felt like I was pushing myself to read the fifth and sixth, and now I guess I'm not willing to slog through the excessive descriptions. They're nicely written, of course, with lovely, historical details. But for now, I can't take it. Maybe someday, when I'm on a long vacation that involves much lying around on a beach. Although, the book is so heavy, I'm not sure that would be very relaxing.
The First Great Train Robbery (1979)
We watched this movie last night with the kids. Based on a Michael Crichton book and directed by him, it's very loosely based on an actual robbery that occurred in 1855 in England. It's a pretty good heist movie, and we enjoyed it, although there's a lot of innuendo that I kept hoping the kids didn't get. Apparently, Sean Connery did his own stunt work on top of a moving train.
Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding
This is total fluff, but I enjoyed it.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Why did it take me so long to read this? It is so funny. I loved the movie, and I think it did a pretty good job of portraying the hilarity of the book, but of course the book has so much more. Loved it!
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
After all these years, it's still funny. Our kids had never seen it, so we watched it on New Year's Eve. Perfect New-Year's-Eve-with-the-kids fodder.
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
This is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I'm happy that it's still worth watching. Jon and I bought it for ourselves for Christmas on Blu-Ray, which means it will live at his parents' house, but that's okay. All the kids watched it with us, and the older ones liked it a lot. It's tough to follow sometimes, but Jon's dad provided helpful commentary that cleared some stuff up for me, too. (I think he used to work on submarines. Jon can verify or not.)