Comfy Cozy (Creepy) Cinema: The Mummy (1999)

On October 30, 2025October 30, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized13 Comments

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are back to watching and sharing about comfy cozy (and as we move closer to Halloween, spookier) movies for the fall season. Feel free to join in with us!!

This week’s movie was the 1999 film The Mummy, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, and Oded Fehr.

I absolutely love this movie, for many reasons. I think it is a wild rumpus of a movie, cheesy in parts, creepy in others, with goofy little funny scenes, and Oded Fehr. Yes, he is a reason I love this movie. But we will get into that more later.

Google Overview: “The Mummy is a rousing, suspenseful and horrifying epic about an expedition of treasure-seeking explorers in the Sahara Desert in 1925. Stumbling upon an ancient tomb, the hunters unwittingly set loose a 3,000-year-old legacy of terror, which is embodied in the vengeful reincarnation of an Egyptian priest who had been sentenced to an eternity as one of the living dead.”

I love movies with academic women going out on expeditions. I love books with that as a theme as well. And I think this is the movie that started that love for me. Evie is an awesome female heroine; intelligent, beautiful, human with her mistakes and clumsiness, brave, and best of all, a librarian! Rachel Weisz plays her part so well, she is charming and adorable and funny.

On the other hand, of course like in all movies like this, she is paired with a rough and tumble adventurer, Rick O’Connell, played by Brendan Fraser. And whew his cardio for this movie had to have been intense. Billy and I think he spent 90% of the movie running! All of them really because it was one action scene after another.

The duo is rounded out by Evie’s brother, Jonathan, played by John Hannah, who is a bit a wastrel but she loves him and he loves her. And he does have some worth, as he can also read and speak ancient languages, which is important later on in the movie. Although it cracked me up how many scenes he raced into, to skid to a stop in horror before joining the fight. Despite being comic relief, he is also a valuable member of the team.

And then there is Oded Fehr. He plays Ardeth Bay, a Medjai warrior and chief who is dedicated to preventing Imhotep from returning to life. I guess he wasn’t counting on a librarian spoiling those plans! He rounds out the group as the action and danger really begins.

I also had a huge crush on him after this movie all the way back in 1999. In fact, last night when he came on the screen while we were watching it all together, Billy turned to Wyatt and said “Your mom thinks he is handsome,” in that singsong type of voice. Lol. I couldn’t deny it. And then when I texted that to Lisa, she had a little confession of her own about him as well. Sorry Brendan, had we been Evie our affections would have been for a different man.

Sigh.

Ok, back to the movie. There is a race to the treasure, because of course. Former associate of Rick’s, Beni, an opportunistic thief is leading his own group of men to Hamunaptra, which is said to contain treasure. Evie is interested in a book, because she is a librarian.

Of course, all manner of disasters and mishaps and calamity ensues. People die (all offscreen). Imhotep is obsessed with reincarnating his girlfriend, and plans to use Evie to do it.

This movie has a bit of everything – action, adventure, comedy, horror, romance. A little something for everyone!

However, how much did this movie get right about Egyptology? I was surprised to read that an actual Egyptologist did work with the film, a man named Dr. Stuart Tyson Smith. According to a post from Egypt at the Manchester Museum, there were quite a few things that were accurate, including some very small details. One such detail was the book that Evie was reading near the beginning of the movie, while onboard the boat during their journey to Hamunaptra, is actually a book that someone studying or interested in Egyptology would have been potentially been reading at the time. It was The Dwellers on the Nile, by E. A. Wallis Budge, and was published in 1885. I love that the filmmakers and Dr. Smith thought abut keeping this small little detail so accurate!

I also got sucked into this analysis by Dominic Perry on TikTok. If you are interested in any of the history surrounding this movie, give this a watch. It is fascinating.

Overall, I absolutely love this movie. It is just fun and cute in parts and I don’t think it is particularly scary, but that is all subjective to the person watching of course. Billy loves it as well, and Wyatt seemed to be before he fell asleep. Lol.

Next up, we turn back to the cozy and comfy, watching The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain.

And with that, I will wrap this up and say goodbye! Don’t forget to check out Lisa’s post here.

If you are interested a few years ago I also wrote a post about librarians you would not want to mess with.

I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Comfy Cozy Cinema: Coraline

On October 23, 2025October 23, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized11 Comments

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are back to watching and sharing about comfy cozy (and as we move closer to Halloween, spookier) movies for the fall season. Feel free to join in with us!!

This week’s movie was Coraline!

I always make Lisa watch an animated movie. I don’t know why. I even know which one I am picking next year, already. Lol. This year, I decided on Coraline, one of my favorites. I once dressed as Coraline for Halloween, and this year, my niece is dressing as Coraline, because she now loves the movie too. She even sort of looks like Coraline, but with curly hair.

IMDB summarizes this movie as: “Wandering her rambling old house in her boring new town, a young girl discovers a hidden door to a strangely idealized version of her life that seems too good to be true.”

Coraline is a curious and feisty girl, a bit snarky, and 100% with the attitude of basically all 10/11 year olds. Her family moves from Pontiac, MI to the Pink Palace Apartments in Oregon, and she is booooored. She meets Wyborn “Wybie” a neighbor, who gives her a doll that looks very very similar to Coraline, which is ..creepy. She also meets the lanky black cat who has a pretty important role in the story. She is not impressed immediately with Wybie, probably because she is a kid who just moved across the country and left her home and friends and school behind to a very sad looking apartment with parents who work all day. And it is evident as well, that the family is struggling. The apartment is fairly bare, dull, blah, even Coraline’s bedroom, and their meals lackluster. Coraline is pretty much stuck there, hanging around the apartments while her parents work from home on a gardening catalog, and one day, she discovers a small door in the wall. After convincing her mom to open it, it reveals nothing but a brick wall.

Later that night however, Coraline finds herself going through that door which now has a tunnel instead of a brick wall, and encounters her Other Mother and Other Father, who are cheery, welcoming, and seem to just want to make her happy. It is colorful, and is everything Coraline could want – even if the Other Mother and Other Father have buttons for eyes. The Other Father even plays a song, just for her, about her, which was performed by They Might Giants.

Coraline wakes up the next morning at home, in her real home, and tells her mom all about her adventures. She spends the day visiting her other neighbors, who are very eccentric – Spink and Forcible, two former burlesque performers with a love of schnauzers, and Mr. Bobinsky, who used to be a gymnast, and a liquidator, (and is voiced by Ian McShane). He is also blue, and has a mouse circus.

Coraline again visits the Other Mother and Other Father, and this is when things take a turn. This story moves fast! I loved the pacing in this movie, it just kept everything moving along. The Other Mother and Other Father present Coraline with an option – she can choose to stay with them, if only she lets them replace her eyes with buttons. And from here, if you want to know what happens, you will have to watch! Let’s just say, there are ghosts, black cats who can straddle both worlds, plants that are sentient, and for Coraline, a very high stakes game.

I love this movie because Coraline is a smart, resourceful, clever girl. She doesn’t give up or quit, is determined, and knows what she wants. She also has a great sense of style – I used to have a version of the hat she wears and I miss it. Her mother has enrolled her in a school where she has to wear a boring gray uniform, and Coraline is bummed. How can she stand out? Where is the color? The opportunity to show her uniqueness and originality? She does find a pair of gloves that would add some flair to her uniform, but at $24.99 a pair, her mom says no.

This movie is stop-action animation, and took 500 people to make. LAIKA Studios has a few videos on YouTube if you interested in some behind the scenes looks at how everything was achieved. And it was a work of art, truly.

There are also little hidden Easter Eggs within the movie, which you can read about here. However, my favorite little detail is about Mr. Bobinsky, the eccentric blue neighbor, and former liquidator and gymnast. If you look closely, he is wearing a medal in every scene, and upon closer inspection, it is a medal that was awarded to the emergency workers who cleaned up after the Chernobyl disaster. Just a little reason he might be blue. These workers were given the title “liquidator” by the Soviet Union, hence why he is a retired liquidator. A little story within a story!

Overall, I love this movie, and I love Coraline, although the author of this story is no longer one I choose to support much anymore. I love Coraline’s independence and spunk and spark and curiosity.

And not to spoil anything, but in the end, Coraline does get her gloves.

Next week we are going all out, in our way, with The Mummy, starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. I love the character Evie. I am excited although it has been a while since I have seen it!

Be sure to check out Lisa’s post as well!

I hope that you are all enjoying the season, wherever you are on the spooky spectrum!

Top Ten Tuesday: It’s All About Kevin Bacon

On August 26, 2025August 27, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized40 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s topic: Non-Bookish Freebie

I didn’t know what to share here today, so I decided to be sort of silly, and tell you all my favorite Kevin Bacon roles. Lol. This list came about because over the summer my husband and I watched the tv show Sirens, and I was reminded about how much I like Kevin Bacon. We sat around chatting one day with my brother and his wife too, about Kevin Bacon movies and it was sort of a little bit of nostalgia. I’m not going to just keep saying Kevin Bacon was amazing in this movie, or whatever, since I obviously think so just by the existence of this list. Lol. I just think he brings his own little flair to everything. His Instagram with his wife is cute too.

We might as well start with Siren, which was a much more complex show that I had expected it to be.

Next, JFK. I used to watch this movie all the time! I loved it, even with the repetitive “back, and to the left”. So many talented actors were in this movie, but Bacon stands out to me whenever I think back to it.

Stir of Echoes is next up! This is such a great horror movie. It is not terribly gory if you like more of a thriller, but it is scary. I am totally watching this one this fall.

Since we are talking about horror, let’s add in Tremors.

And, we can’t forget The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.

Joanne reminded me that I meant to put The River Wild on here! I loved both The River Wild and White Water Summer, so I am putting them on here together.

Balto, which I recently watched with my son and learned that Kevin Bacon did the voice for Balto. Excellent job playing a wolf-dog hybrid who wants to save the children of Nome.

And then, finally, Footloose. Because of course.

And that is it from me today! I am late to posting but I hope to visit blogs this week!

Short Classic Reads for Autumn Eves

On August 20, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn autumn, books and reading19 Comments

Ok I am diving in to fall content because I can’t wait. It is still hot and gross and sticky here, so this is a bit of daydreaming on my part. Can’t I just set the AC super low and cover up with a blanket and have some tea and read some scary stories?

Let’s start with these short little classics of horror and mystery, to just give us a little taste of the season to come. A little autumn amuse-bouche if you will, while we wait for the real thing.

The Willows by Algernon Blackwood: Written in 1907, The Willows is described as early modern horror, and precursor to the weird fiction movement, which is something I am reading a bit of these days. This cover is absolutely chilling to me!

The Ghost Stories of M.R. James: My cousin, who I have shared books with since we were children, has told me over and over for years to read M.R. James. Maybe this is the year! And hmm, I wonder if he has this copy for his study; if not I am thinking this would be a perfect gift for Christmas.

The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins: This short story (novella?) is on my list to read this year. And this edition and cover looks gorgeous and spooky!

Autumn Chills by Agatha Christie: We need to have the Queen of Mystery on this list! I think short stories are a great way to get to know an author before diving into a whole novel, and this collection of autumnal stories is a good place to begin!

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson: I love Shirley Jackson, and this is my favorite by her. It is so good and perfect for this transition period.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan La Fanu: This book was so groundbreaking for its time. It pre-dates Dracula by twenty-six years, and the vampire is a woman. It is sometimes referred to as sapphic, but I hesitate to call it that based on a few things. However, it was a scandalous book in its day, and I feel like the focus on women and sexuality and power is one of the reasons why Dracula is more well known.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: Hands down, one of my favorites on this list. I read this in college and fell in love with this whole story. And speaking of feminism, Mary Shelley’s mom, Mary Wollstonecraft, was a pioneering feminist in literature and writing. Just throwing that out there.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: So I haven’t actually read this one. I know the story, roughly, but I should probably read it one day. I knew I had to include it on this list though!

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: A spooky one alright. Is it a ghost story? Or something else? It is open to the reader’s interpretation. It’s been a very long time since I read this so I don’t remember too much about it. Maybe it is time for a reread.

And there we go. A little bit of fall near the end of summer, on this rainy (here at least) day.

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On November 8, 2024November 8, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP20 Comments

Hello everyone!! I am drinking my coffee today out of one my new favorite mugs, this one by Danica Studios. I am on a personal quest to replace my mugs with only ones that make me happy, which might sound absurd but..it’s the small things in life, right?

I just wanted to start this post today by saying my blog is my politics free zone.

I don’t think I have shared Halloween with you all, and I want to. So let’s throw this post right back to October!

The Saturday night before Halloween, Wyatt and I went to the Jack O’Lantern journey at the Detroit Zoo. Billy was supposed to go too, but he hurt his ankle working on Wyatt’s ramp that day, and wasn’t going to be able to manage all of the walking we were going to do. I was a bit nervous about taking Wyatt on my own, which is weird because I am not generally like that. I think because it was going to be dark so fast and I had to drive home through the city at night, but despite being a bit nervous, we went. And I am so glad that we did. We missed Billy of course, but Wyatt and I had a complete blast. We stayed so much later than I anticipated. We were just having such a good time together.

We came home in very high “spirits” and had lots to share with Billy. We bought these tickets as part of a package deal with their Christmas lights display, and now I am looking forward to holiday lights!

The next day was more Halloween shenanigans, with a visit to my dad and stepmom’s house. My stepmom had arranged a whole cookie and cupcake array for the kids to decorate (and eat). She had all of the candy decorations all pre-cut and in little bowls, frosting made, even edible eyes! It was really cool and the kids had a blast. Little Hurricane girl even sat on my lap and made cookies with me!

As you can see, the kids thoroughly enjoyed the day.

After all of our pre-Halloween activities, we were so excited when the big day finally came! Wyatt wanted to be a snail, which turned out pretty good if I do say so myself! I went as a mushroom and Billy wore a shirt with morels on it that said “I’m a fungi”. Lol. We cracked ourselves up.

Phew and now we have made it through Halloween!!

Finally, Billy and I celebrated our 24th anniversary on the 4th! We are old y’all. Wyatt’s grandma watched him for a few hours while we went out for sushi. We went to a place called The Goblin in Detroit (you know I loved that name) and ordered the Penguin tray to split. Now, the Penguin is supposed to come with a cute little rice penguin. But I wanted the panda that comes with the Panda tray lol, and the very nice owner made sure that I got a panda. I am weird. The employee/owner guy was super nice. We really enjoyed chatting with him. The restaurant is small, with maybe six tables total, but does a brisk carry out business. And the sushi was absolutely delicious. We will definitely be returning. And luckily it is not too far from where Billy works, so it would be very easy for Billy to pick up sushi on his way home. We had such a great time together and we need to go out the two of us more often.

Those are all of the big things that happened. We also had slow days, days where we just did school and therapy, sat outside in the sun, painted, played with our menagerie of creatures. And we even added two new babies, two little African clawed frogs that we named Hurkel and Durkel. They are so derpy, I love them.

And now for some random photos!

And that my friends is all for today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Comfy Cozy Cinema: Bringing Up Baby

On November 7, 2024November 7, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized17 Comments

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are back to watching and sharing about comfy cozy (and sometimes, chilling) movies for the fall season. Feel free to join in with us!! Our link will be live for a whole week after we post about a movie.

We had a last minute movie shake up! We were supposed to watch Skylark – then learned that we couldn’t find it available anywhere! Lisa switched it out to Bringing up Baby, starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, and it was adorable.

I just want to start by saying that Cary Grant was an attractive man, no denying it, but seriously he never looked better than he did as a dino nerd, the slightly awkward paleontologist David Huxley. Dang.

Now, the summary before I get really started. “Harried paleontologist David Huxley (Cary Grant) has to make a good impression on society matron Mrs. Random (May Robson), who is considering donating one million dollars to his museum. On the day before his wedding, Huxley meets Mrs. Random’s high-spirited young niece, Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn), a madcap adventuress who immediately falls for the straitlaced scientist. The ever-growing chaos — including a missing dinosaur bone and a pet leopard — threatens to swallow him whole.” (From theromcomcatalog)

I loved this movie! Maybe because on some level this movie made me think of Billy and I; he often calls me Calamity as my nickname because well, I guess he thinks I can be a bit of a Calamity. And he wouldn’t be wrong. Billy is much more rational and practical than I am; I get us into all sorts of predicaments, all none of them as cool as what happened in this movie.

So. David is supposed to be married to a woman named Alice Swallow, who is his assistant at the museum. It is never really said why other than that it is for his career, and it sounds like it will be a business-like, staid marriage. No honeymoon, no children. Just work. Which, yuck. David doesn’t seem too thrilled with that but kind of shrugs it off. Neither are madly in love with the other, so that makes what happens the rest of the movie ok.

Enter Susan Vance, portrayed by Katharine Hepburn. She is wealthy, has an even wealthier aunt, and is a bit of a scatterbrain. She is also very impulsive and flighty. And, she has a leopard! Her brother who is in Brazil sent it her way, and while it seems rather tame she can’t keep it in her apartment either, and convinces David to help her drive it out to her country house.

We get a taste of the madcap crazy in the beginning when the two meet, but it doesn’t really escalate until they reach the countryside. It is one thing after another, crazy schemes and situations and misunderstandings and dogs and leopards and car thefts and running around the woods and country at night. It was a wild trip!

Grant and Hepburn were fantastic and just kept the frantic energy up the whole movie, complete with witty remarks and exasperation. When David meets Susan’s aunt, he is clothed in a negligee of Susan’s and has no idea that he is meeting the woman he is hoping will donate money to the museum and kind of releases some of his frustration at his situation on her. Susan tries to cover up for his behavior by telling his aunt that he is a man named David Bone who is a friend of her brother’s, and who has had a nervous breakdown. I thought this was so funny as it becomes a running joke where anything he does is a result of his nervous breakdown, at least as far as the aunt is concerned.

Anyway, there are so many moments in this movie that were funny or endearing or both. They are on the hunt for the leopard baby, who has escaped. Although, unbeknownst to them, another more ferocious leopard has escaped from the nearby circus. Two leopards are on the loose in Connecticut in the same few square miles – what could go wrong?

I always use a net when I am looking for escaped leopards too.

The audience knows of course that Grant and Hepburn are going to end up together, and we are just waiting for the moment that the characters themselves realize it.

We have to wait all the way until the end, when David is back in his museum, putting together his Brontosaurus, sans glasses by the way. Susan comes in with his bone, and she climbs up a ladder, which we all know will end in disaster because it is Susan after all.

This movie was madcap, funny, crazy. I never knew what misadventure would befall our hero and heroine from minute to minute and I loved it. And now I totally want my own leopard. However, that seems to be illegal in the United States. I do have a leopard gecko, and she is a sweet girl and easier to feed so there is that.

My Luna baby.

If you watched Skylark or anything else at all, feel free to comment and link up with us about it! The link is open for a week. You can read Lisa’s thoughts here!

Next up is The Grand Budapest Hotel, and after that is Chocolat and our watch party! We will all press play together at home and chat on our discord channel (and don’t worry, not on video!). The watch party will be November 17th, at 7pm EST. (the day after my birthday! yay!)

Top Ten Tuesday: Spooky Middle Grade

On October 29, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized33 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s prompt is a Halloween freebie! Since Halloween for me is more about Wyatt these days, my post this week is spooky middle grade books that I want to read. Going to the library with Wyatt I see all these fun looking middle grade books that I want to read too! I usually end up with one for myself every time we go. I grew up reading Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Mary Downing Hahn, and Betty Ren Wright, all of which scared my socks off as a kid and made me sleep with the blankets pulled way up over my head. I haven’t changed too much!

The Vanishing of Aveline Jones – This is the third in the series, and I just read the first two this fall. It is really well done series, with just enough freak out factor even as an adult. I would have definitely loved this series as a kid!

The Legend of the Skeleton Man – I really enjoy Joseph Bruchac, and I think this one would be one that makes you want to sleep with the lights on.

Scary Stories for Young Foxes – Ok, I don’t know much about this one other than I love foxes and there are foxes. Sometimes that is all it takes for me!

Ghost Book had me at its comparison to Studio Ghibli and Coco. ( Can any adult watch Coco without crying?)

Small Spaces is by the author of The Bear and the Nightingale and I feel like I have to know how she writes for middle grade! I loved The Bear and the Nightingale.

Wyatt and I read a picture book a few years ago that was super cute about the jumbies – I don’t think that the middle grade of The Jumbies will be so cute however. It looks pretty scary to me! And I just learned that they were both written by Tracey Baptiste. Well, now I really have to read it!

That cover of Evangeline of the Bayou – it is just so full of rich color and it feels…mossy. And damp. You can feel that cover. And it takes place in New Orleans, one of my favorite cities!

The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange. Honestly, all of Lucy Strange’s books have been on my TBR for ages and ages. I really need to read them.

Doesn’t this name just sound good when you say it? The Clackity. The Clackity.

And then one reread!

The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright. This book scared the heck out of me as a kid, and I sort of think it still might. Dolls scare me in general and the idea that they could move while I was sleeping or something is absolutely horrifying.

Have you read any of these?