So, I've been saving this post for six weeks or more now thinking that I'd eventually come back to this and write something a little longer and a bit more thoughtful, but it's clear that's not going to happen, so instead I'm just going to bite the bullet and post my immediate reactions to Schindler's List.
In other news, my new project is to develop the ability to read more than one book at a time. The list of books I want to read is so long and this would allow me to read a lot more books because I could read other books while stalled on a book that I like, but isn't a page turner for me, like Schindler's List or The Killer Angels, which is what I've been reading since I finished Schindler's List. Another new project is to read all the Harry Potter books before I move. We'll see how either one goes.
Anyway, on to the overdue post...
Schindler's List
Well, it only took me two months or so (maybe more, I'm not even sure), but I did finally finish reading Schindler's List. I'm sure everyone knows the story (and it's a bit complicated to review the plot of non-fiction, eh?), so I'll keep my review to the actual writing, which I didn't love. I really hate when authors "break the fourth wall," so to speak. Don't address me directly. Don't tell me your purpose in writing the book. If it's not clear to me without you explicitly stating it, perhaps you should rethink your career as an author. What I did like was that Thomas Keneally did not canonize Schindler (although, he unfortunately stated explicitly several times that he wasn't.). It makes him all that much more admirable to me; he wasn't a hero, he was just a man who did the right thing at a time when that was hard to do.
Anyway, I'm a little embarassed to say it, but I think for the second time in the short history of this blog, I'm going to say "skip the book, watch the movie." Man, it goes against every fiber of my future-librarian body to say that. And twice in the span of a few months. Ugh. Of course, in the name of full disclosure I must admit that I haven't seen the movie in ten years while the book is still fresh in my mind. Still, I don't think you can ever go wrong with Liam Neeson and Ben Kingsley.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Princess Bride
You may recall that in an early post in this blog I reviewed the book version of The Princess Bride and wondered what Cary Elwes was up to these days. ABC News has the answer and the accompanying photo is not pretty.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Children of Men
I actually really liked this movie, but Pat thought the ending was unsatisfying (we didn't actually watch it together). Usually I am the one that finds an entire movie ruined by the ending, but while I agree it would be interesting to see what happens next, I think it ends in a good place. Well, good being relative of course. I really wouldn't recommend this movie if you're looking for something light.
In fact, what I want to know more about isn't what happens after the ending, but what happens before the beginning of the movie. There are hints here and there that a lot of the characters, particularly Jasper and his wife, have interesting back stories. I would like to know more about how the world ended up in the state it is in fictional 2027. I would like to know more about what separated Theo and Julian (though I think that may have been revealed in a part that kept skipping). I would like to understand more clearly the missions of the Fishes and of the Human Project.
It's a very thought-provoking movie about what would happen if suddenly the human race was faced with extinction. I guess humans are unique in the respect that we can be aware of our own impending extinction; an endangered species, on the other hand, is probably not conscious of the fact that it's one of very few remaining. But, maybe it is. They find out new things about the minds of other animals (and humans) every day. In P.D. James' vision of the future, awareness of our own impending doom causes utter chaos and mayhem. Why is that, I wonder?
Not only is the world fraught with crime and destruction, but for some reason Great Britain is the only remaining country/government in tact (I'm a little fuzzy on the exact details). I would like some explanation of how they kept it together while every other country's government imploded. So again, while I agree with Pat that I think there's a lot more to this story that could be told (and probably is in the book), I don't think it's at the end.
I really recommend Children of Men. It's good, although definitely dark (I was going to add that it's sad, but it's also hopeful.), and I am okay with how the story is resolved.
Read more...
In fact, what I want to know more about isn't what happens after the ending, but what happens before the beginning of the movie. There are hints here and there that a lot of the characters, particularly Jasper and his wife, have interesting back stories. I would like to know more about how the world ended up in the state it is in fictional 2027. I would like to know more about what separated Theo and Julian (though I think that may have been revealed in a part that kept skipping). I would like to understand more clearly the missions of the Fishes and of the Human Project.
It's a very thought-provoking movie about what would happen if suddenly the human race was faced with extinction. I guess humans are unique in the respect that we can be aware of our own impending extinction; an endangered species, on the other hand, is probably not conscious of the fact that it's one of very few remaining. But, maybe it is. They find out new things about the minds of other animals (and humans) every day. In P.D. James' vision of the future, awareness of our own impending doom causes utter chaos and mayhem. Why is that, I wonder?
Not only is the world fraught with crime and destruction, but for some reason Great Britain is the only remaining country/government in tact (I'm a little fuzzy on the exact details). I would like some explanation of how they kept it together while every other country's government imploded. So again, while I agree with Pat that I think there's a lot more to this story that could be told (and probably is in the book), I don't think it's at the end.
I really recommend Children of Men. It's good, although definitely dark (I was going to add that it's sad, but it's also hopeful.), and I am okay with how the story is resolved.
Read more...
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Sacrilege!
Is using the term sacrilege for anything that's not actually sacred, strictly speaking, sacrilegious in itself? Did that even make sense?
I digress.
I failed to mention that the closing number on the DWTS Tour was to Footloose (big yay!), but that helps me segue nicely into this bit of news that I find unnecessary:
Zac Efron Brings Home the Bacon in Footloose Remake
And how awful is that title? Oh, TV Guide...
I digress.
I failed to mention that the closing number on the DWTS Tour was to Footloose (big yay!), but that helps me segue nicely into this bit of news that I find unnecessary:
Zac Efron Brings Home the Bacon in Footloose Remake
And how awful is that title? Oh, TV Guide...
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Dancing with the Stars Tour
On Sunday night, Pat and I went to see the Dancing with the Stars tour at Mohegan Sun. Sadly, it was not one of the five shows on the tour that Apolo appeared in. As it turns out, I was pretty pleased with the star who was dancing with Julianne in his place: Joey McIntyre. I knew he was going to be on the tour and I wasn't overly excited because he was never my favorite New Kid and I didn't watch the season of DWTS that he was on. That changed pretty much the second he came on stage and I realized I was fulfilling my lifelong dream of seeing a New Kid live (okay, the dream is to see all of the New Kids, but that's clearly not gonna happen). It was all I could do to not scream like a teenage girl. I was pretty much a pile of mush. As it turns out, he's actually a pretty good dancer, too, so I really wasn't missing Apolo at all. And then...he sang. Twice!!
I couldn't get Pat to understand just how much it meant to me to see a New Kid. Jonathan Knight was my first celebrity boyfriend (although my second celebrity crush after Patrick Swayze) and the New Kids were my only true celebrity obsession ever. I had a sleeping bag, sheets, the buttons the size of my face...the list goes on and on. And, in fact, it was because of the New Kids that I first learned that the people we idolize aren't perfect (of course, on reflection, idolizing a boy band was probably not a great choice in the first place, but I was 6 when Hangin' Tough was released). I remember reading in the paper that Donnie Wahlberg had busted up a hotel room and did drugs. I was crushed. In my world, doing drugs was the worst possible offense.
But, back to the show...The highlight of the night: Forgot the dancing! Joey Mac, Joey Fatone (of N*Sync, my other favorite boy band), Joey Lawrence (whoa!), and Drew Lachey all sang a Rat Pack medley together. I told Pat it was the best thing that ever happened to me. On reflection, I may have been a little too caught up in the moment, but it was still pretty damn good. I think I was one of the few people in the audience that was just the right age to have been a fan of both New Kids on the Block and N*Sync. There were a lot of old ladies and teenage girls in the house.
Okay, I should probably talk about the dancing at least a little. They did some of my favorite numbers from the only season I watched, including Joey and Kim's jive and their freestyle, as well as Apolo (played by Joey Mac) and Julianne's dance to I Like to Move It. They also did Drew and Cheryl's freestyle (Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy) and their paso doble (Thriller). The group numbers were fantastic, as well. I especially enjoyed the one they did with Joey Lawrence and four of the female professionals and the group one to Luck be a Lady. Julianne and Louis did a pretty steamy...rumba, I think it was. I mix them up. But it was really amazing.
Another highlight: They had local ballroom dancers do a mini dance-off and had the audience vote on a favorite. When one of the dancers introduce himself, he mentioned he was single. Not surprisingly, he and his partner were the winning dancers.
I wish I could dance.
I couldn't get Pat to understand just how much it meant to me to see a New Kid. Jonathan Knight was my first celebrity boyfriend (although my second celebrity crush after Patrick Swayze) and the New Kids were my only true celebrity obsession ever. I had a sleeping bag, sheets, the buttons the size of my face...the list goes on and on. And, in fact, it was because of the New Kids that I first learned that the people we idolize aren't perfect (of course, on reflection, idolizing a boy band was probably not a great choice in the first place, but I was 6 when Hangin' Tough was released). I remember reading in the paper that Donnie Wahlberg had busted up a hotel room and did drugs. I was crushed. In my world, doing drugs was the worst possible offense.
But, back to the show...The highlight of the night: Forgot the dancing! Joey Mac, Joey Fatone (of N*Sync, my other favorite boy band), Joey Lawrence (whoa!), and Drew Lachey all sang a Rat Pack medley together. I told Pat it was the best thing that ever happened to me. On reflection, I may have been a little too caught up in the moment, but it was still pretty damn good. I think I was one of the few people in the audience that was just the right age to have been a fan of both New Kids on the Block and N*Sync. There were a lot of old ladies and teenage girls in the house.
Okay, I should probably talk about the dancing at least a little. They did some of my favorite numbers from the only season I watched, including Joey and Kim's jive and their freestyle, as well as Apolo (played by Joey Mac) and Julianne's dance to I Like to Move It. They also did Drew and Cheryl's freestyle (Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy) and their paso doble (Thriller). The group numbers were fantastic, as well. I especially enjoyed the one they did with Joey Lawrence and four of the female professionals and the group one to Luck be a Lady. Julianne and Louis did a pretty steamy...rumba, I think it was. I mix them up. But it was really amazing.
Another highlight: They had local ballroom dancers do a mini dance-off and had the audience vote on a favorite. When one of the dancers introduce himself, he mentioned he was single. Not surprisingly, he and his partner were the winning dancers.
I wish I could dance.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Very Brief Reviews
So, I started this post right after I got back from a trip to Maine for my mother's 50th birthday, which was June 16. Actually, I even finished everything you'll read below that week, but also included in the post was my assessment of Schindler's List, which I finally finished reading, and that was really what was causing the hold up. So, I'll do that another time, and in the meantime, here are some brief movie reviews:
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Okay, so I've actually seen this one before, but I was totally stoked (wow, 1993 called. They want their vocab back.) that it was playing on my bus ride to Maine last weekend. Otherwise, the ride wasn't that great - the bus wasn't air conditioned, there were no pockets on the backs of the seats for my stuff, and the bus was jam-packed - so a good movie was really a treat. Seriously, I love this movie in a way that I rarely love cheesy romantic comedies. I laugh when Ian gets beat up by the old lady, I choke up a little when Toula's parents give them a house at their wedding, the whole nine yards. This movie knows how to push all my sappy buttons. I have one complaint though: My Big Fat Greek Wedding is guilty of perpetuating the pop culture stereotype that to transform from "frump girl" to Greek goddess, a woman has to ditch the glasses. Because beautiful girls are also blessed with perfect eyesight, or should at least appear to be.
Children of Men
Finally, I watched a movie I hadn't already seen! That's the first time in months.
Okay, I started to write my thoughts on this one and they were not "very brief" as promised in the title, so I'll save it for another post.
You Got Served
Another movie I had never seen... and I probably would have been better off if I had left it that way. I really wanted to see the dancing because a lot of it was choreographed by judges/dancers/choreographers featured on So You Think You Can Dance, which is my current guilty pleasure (though I don't like it as much as Dancing with the Stars). The dancing was pretty awesome, but I'm just not sure it was worth it. The movie was even worse than I expected and I had set the bar pretty low. There were a couple of times I actually told Pat to pause because I just needed a break and some time to consider whether or not I really wanted to lose an hour and a half of my life to watching the acting skills of former B2K members. My recommendation: DVR it on TV. That way, you don't have to pay to rent it, but you can still fast forward to the dance routines.
Read more...
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Okay, so I've actually seen this one before, but I was totally stoked (wow, 1993 called. They want their vocab back.) that it was playing on my bus ride to Maine last weekend. Otherwise, the ride wasn't that great - the bus wasn't air conditioned, there were no pockets on the backs of the seats for my stuff, and the bus was jam-packed - so a good movie was really a treat. Seriously, I love this movie in a way that I rarely love cheesy romantic comedies. I laugh when Ian gets beat up by the old lady, I choke up a little when Toula's parents give them a house at their wedding, the whole nine yards. This movie knows how to push all my sappy buttons. I have one complaint though: My Big Fat Greek Wedding is guilty of perpetuating the pop culture stereotype that to transform from "frump girl" to Greek goddess, a woman has to ditch the glasses. Because beautiful girls are also blessed with perfect eyesight, or should at least appear to be.
Children of Men
Finally, I watched a movie I hadn't already seen! That's the first time in months.
Okay, I started to write my thoughts on this one and they were not "very brief" as promised in the title, so I'll save it for another post.
You Got Served
Another movie I had never seen... and I probably would have been better off if I had left it that way. I really wanted to see the dancing because a lot of it was choreographed by judges/dancers/choreographers featured on So You Think You Can Dance, which is my current guilty pleasure (though I don't like it as much as Dancing with the Stars). The dancing was pretty awesome, but I'm just not sure it was worth it. The movie was even worse than I expected and I had set the bar pretty low. There were a couple of times I actually told Pat to pause because I just needed a break and some time to consider whether or not I really wanted to lose an hour and a half of my life to watching the acting skills of former B2K members. My recommendation: DVR it on TV. That way, you don't have to pay to rent it, but you can still fast forward to the dance routines.
Read more...
More than Meets the Eye
This weekend, I had pretty much the best 24 hours ever, which began with me seeing Transformers with Jenn and Greg on Saturday night. Although, before I go off on a total squee-fest, let me just lodge the complaint that our previews totally blew right now. Except for the preview of Shark Week, which was of course, awesome. PS I'm going to use the word "awesome" somewhere between two and three hundred times in this post, so get used to it now. Summary of the Shark Week preview: "Sharks aren't angry; they're hungry."
So, Transformers...Transformers was exactly what I want in a movie: entertainment. No, I didn't have any particularly deep thoughts or feelings while watching (In fact, I'm pretty sure I had no thoughts, deep or otherwise, except for "this is so awesome this is so awesome this is so awesome."). No, the plot was not particularly original. And you know what? I couldn't care less. This may very well be my favorite movie of the last five years. I laughed, I teared up (surprise, surprise), I clapped (sorry, Melissa), I fanned myself, I covered my eyes, I squee'd, and I repeatedly whispered to Jenn, "this is so cool." Seriously, there was not a single moment where I was not entertained.
For someone who enjoys action movies and special effects, it's pretty much two and a half hours of pure joy. And yet, it was surprisingly low on really graphic violence, which I also appreciated, mostly just robot-on-robot action. It's all the thrills without having to actually see someone lose a limb or lie in a twisted heap on the ground or gasp for their last breath. Pretty much it's just really freaking cool GM cars turning into robots and then kicking the crap out of each other. Did I mention it was awesome?
Also, I have no idea where Josh Duhamel's been all my life, but hell-o.
To put into perspective just how much I liked this movie, I said to Pat, "you know how I get really pissed off when movies end in such a way as to leave an opening for a sequel? When Transformers did that I was like, 'holy awesomeness, I can't wait. I hope they make like six sequels. And, I hope the next one comes out tomorrow.'" I am planning to see this movie at least two more times in the theater. I seriously considered walking out of the theater, buying another ticket, and seeing the next showing of it that very night. The only thing that stopped me, I think, was that I had to work at 7:30am yesterday.
Here, check out the imdb.com page for the man who voices Optimus Prime: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0191520/. He did voices in some of my favorite childhood cartoons. Most notably, he was Eeyore! This man is a major icon of my childhood and I didn't even know it.
The 24 hours of awesomeness (and reliving my childhood) ended with seeing the Dancing with the Stars tour last night, but I'm going to post separately on that, so let me just comment quickly on two other movies I saw this weekend with Pat while he was recovering from having his wisdom teeth removed: Music & Lyrics and The Three Musketeers. I'm sure everyone knows how awesome The Three Musketeers is already (and if not, run, do not walk, to your local Blockbuster; it's also free On Demand on Comcast right now). Music & Lyrics was a pretty cute rom-com. Pretty formulaic, but it has Drew Barrymore (who I love love love) and Hugh Grant (who I have developed a fondness for since Love Actually). It's also pretty funny. Definitely a no-brainer, but a nice mindless way to spend an afternoon with someone doped up on Percoset.
There's more to this post than meets the eye...
So, Transformers...Transformers was exactly what I want in a movie: entertainment. No, I didn't have any particularly deep thoughts or feelings while watching (In fact, I'm pretty sure I had no thoughts, deep or otherwise, except for "this is so awesome this is so awesome this is so awesome."). No, the plot was not particularly original. And you know what? I couldn't care less. This may very well be my favorite movie of the last five years. I laughed, I teared up (surprise, surprise), I clapped (sorry, Melissa), I fanned myself, I covered my eyes, I squee'd, and I repeatedly whispered to Jenn, "this is so cool." Seriously, there was not a single moment where I was not entertained.
For someone who enjoys action movies and special effects, it's pretty much two and a half hours of pure joy. And yet, it was surprisingly low on really graphic violence, which I also appreciated, mostly just robot-on-robot action. It's all the thrills without having to actually see someone lose a limb or lie in a twisted heap on the ground or gasp for their last breath. Pretty much it's just really freaking cool GM cars turning into robots and then kicking the crap out of each other. Did I mention it was awesome?
Also, I have no idea where Josh Duhamel's been all my life, but hell-o.
To put into perspective just how much I liked this movie, I said to Pat, "you know how I get really pissed off when movies end in such a way as to leave an opening for a sequel? When Transformers did that I was like, 'holy awesomeness, I can't wait. I hope they make like six sequels. And, I hope the next one comes out tomorrow.'" I am planning to see this movie at least two more times in the theater. I seriously considered walking out of the theater, buying another ticket, and seeing the next showing of it that very night. The only thing that stopped me, I think, was that I had to work at 7:30am yesterday.
Here, check out the imdb.com page for the man who voices Optimus Prime: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0191520/. He did voices in some of my favorite childhood cartoons. Most notably, he was Eeyore! This man is a major icon of my childhood and I didn't even know it.
The 24 hours of awesomeness (and reliving my childhood) ended with seeing the Dancing with the Stars tour last night, but I'm going to post separately on that, so let me just comment quickly on two other movies I saw this weekend with Pat while he was recovering from having his wisdom teeth removed: Music & Lyrics and The Three Musketeers. I'm sure everyone knows how awesome The Three Musketeers is already (and if not, run, do not walk, to your local Blockbuster; it's also free On Demand on Comcast right now). Music & Lyrics was a pretty cute rom-com. Pretty formulaic, but it has Drew Barrymore (who I love love love) and Hugh Grant (who I have developed a fondness for since Love Actually). It's also pretty funny. Definitely a no-brainer, but a nice mindless way to spend an afternoon with someone doped up on Percoset.
There's more to this post than meets the eye...
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