Monday Musings: Remembering 9/11, Is Amazon Prime Worth It? So Long, Pat Sajak, Better Than The Book: ‘The Goldfinch’ Review, ‘Fall’ing For Sangria 🍹
Never forget…🙏🏻
September 11 is always a heavy day for America, but it’s also a day where we can feel gratitude and use this day as a day of service to others. There are quite a few programs dedicated to the remembrance of 9/11 available for streaming that you can share with friends and family.
Remembering 9/11: FDNY on 60 Minutes
If you watch one 9/11 special this week, make it 60 Minutes’ incredibly moving and inspiring “9/11: FDNY” broadcast. The full hour is dedicated to heroic New York firemen who sacrificed their lives to save others. The episode is so well done, with footage I personally had never seen before. It was revealed that there were a group of filmmakers filming a documentary about the FDNY as the first plane struck the Twin Towers. You can stream this episode that aired last night on Paramount+ or the full episode is above.
The Twin Towers Remembered Through Film and Television
There were many movies and TV shows that featured views of the Twin Towers and also some that were actually filmed inside the Towers. Here are a list of films and television series that you can stream that include the Twin Towers as a filming location.
King Kong (1976) - stream on Paramount+ with Showtime
Trading Places (1983) - buy or rent on Apple TV+ or Amazon Prime
The Killing Fields (1984) rent or buy on Apple TV+ or Amazon Prime
Working Girl (1988) buy or rent on demand
When Harry Met Sally (1989) - stream on MAX
Home Alone 2 (1992) - stream on STARZ
Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach” was filmed on Staten Island, and featured a view of the Twin Towers in the opening of the video.
Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run” from the film Working Girl also featured a view of the Twin Towers from the Staten Island Ferry.
Tonight: ‘Wheel of Fortune’ - Season 41 Premieres aka Pat Sajak’s Last Season
Pat Sajak, longtime host of the primetime game show Wheel of Fortune will take to the stage on tonight’s Season 41 premiere, saying goodbye to his job of over 40 years. Sajak will retire after this season is over and Ryan Seacrest will take over as host in Fall 2024. The final episodes featuring Pat Sajak as host will air in June 2024. This season will most likely spent taking trips down memory lane with Pat Sajak throughout the decades. Fans have already taking to social media to share their love for the host and the iconic game. Viewers can stream Wheel of Fortune on streamers with live capability like Hulu Live TV or Pluto TV for free or on Hulu the following day after the episode airs.
The Goldfinch: A Pulitzer Prize Book That I Could Actually Put Down (A Lot)
Confession: I’ve been reading this book since February. It was almost a DNF book (Did Not Finish), but I mustered through and after putting it down for months on end, I finally reach the final page which was 771!
“The Goldfinch” is the 2014 Pulitzer Prize winner in fiction by novelist Donna Tartt. The problem with this novel for me right from the beginning was putting the story in the POV of an adolescent boy named Theodore Decker that was predominantly an observer and had absolutely zero insight into anything. The book started off strong with Theodore and his mother visiting a museum and then there was a bombing while they were inside. I personally didn’t like that Theodore stole a painting and went back home to wait for his mother. It was strange how he didn’t once have a thought that his mother could have been left inside the museum after the bombing and decided to just to go home and wait for her.
I watched the film from Amazon Studios starring Ansel Elgort as Theodore Decker and Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Barbour, a mother who took him in temporarily instead of going into foster care. The movie, in my opinion, had a little more energy than the book did. It was held up by a pretty strong supporting cast including Sarah Paulson, Finn Wolfhard, and Luke Wilson. The ending also is better visually as the book dedicated about five pages of philosophizing the meaning of the entire story which at that point I didn’t care anymore. The Goldfinch is currently streaming on Prime Video.
Amazon Prime? It is Worth The Money?
As much as I like to critique the streaming platform that for a brand that has the most money, it collectively has a lackluster library of original programming, I’ll even admit that an Amazon Prime (Prime Video) membership is actually one of the most substantially worthy investments you could make. Why? A Prime membership (currently $15/month) offers not just a subscription to its streaming platform Prime Video, but also:
discounts at Whole Foods and Amazon Prime
free next-day (and sometimes) same-day shipping
free same-day, release-day delivery on your favorite books
access to over 2-million ad-free songs to stream on their station
reading perks including one free download of select books on kindle and access to over three thousand digital book, audiobooks, and magazines with Prime Reading
try before you buy program where you can try new styles of clothing, shoes and accessories seven days for free
Prime Gaming included with access to one free game download (chosen for you) per month
free digital photo storage unlimited and up to 5 GB of video storage
What I Love About Prime Video
Like I said before and I’ll say again, there really isn’t a ton of memorable original programming at Amazon Prime in relation to how much money the streaming platform has, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lack of content. There’s so much content because Prime Video gives subscribers access to Amazon Channels that pretty much cover any genre you want — Western, Classic Television, British Romantic Dramas. There’s so much to access on Prime. They also have their own free streaming platform Freevee which includes a library of movies, classic television series and original programming like the Emmy-nominated Jury Duty. Amazon also now owns MGM so Prime member can get access to first seasons of MGM+ original TV shows and documetnaries which for the majority are excellent. My favorite thing? Scrolling through their documentary channel and finding the absolutely most obscure documentaries including ones on iconic socialites, models, famous artists and architects.
My Top 5 Favorite Streams On Prime Video
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Daisy Jones & The Six
Fleabag (mostly season 2)
Upload
The Night Manager
Autumn Sangria with Apples, Pomegranates and Figs
One of my favorite things about this season is it’s FIG SEASON! I love figs. Trader Joes has great organic ones that I love to slice up in apples and drizzle raw honey over as a healthy breakfast option. Figs are high in potassium, ABC vitamins, a good source of iron and folic acid and aids in controlling blood pressure levels.
Use figs as a healthy ingredient in a fall sangria
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1 large apple cut into thin wedges
5 figs, cut into quarters
1 bottle of chilled prosecco
1 cup brandy
2 cups pomegranate juice
ice
recipe and photo from heathercristo.com