Movie: Arranged
Like/Don't Like: It was lovely
It's been weeks since I watched this movie and somehow I have forgot to post about it until now. This may be brief.
Emily (whom I've never actually met, she's a friend of a friend of a friend, but hi to her anyways, and thanks!) reviewed this on her blog and it sounded intriguing. Two teachers in a NY public school -- one a Jew, one a Muslim -- end up becoming friends and discover they are both going through the process of having marriages arranged for them.
In short (because that's about all I can remember): I loved the way the women and their cultures where portrayed. Not as weird or mysterious or unapproachable, but as faithful and loving people who struggle sometimes with their faith but ultimately choose it because they want to. Not because they're forced to, as so many people believe. It was nice to see religious people portrayed as rational human beings instead of fanatics or brain-washed simpletons. It was refreshing.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Forever Strong
Movie: Forever Strong
Like/Don't Like: Feel-good sports movie. Like.
I get the gist of most sports, but rugby stumps me. As does cricket and Australian rules football. Basically sports that are popular primarily in the former British Empire are a complete mystery to me.
I was hoping that since this movie was about a high school rugby team I would get a handle but I finished it still not understanding the purpose of the scrum. Or why they all lift one guy up to catch the ball. And why they can't pass forward.
But not knowing these things didn't actually hinder enjoying the movie. It wasn't anything revolutionary, just your standard feel-good sports movie. I think we're hard-wired to like them. Who can resist Rudy (who is actually in this movie) or Hoosiers or Remember the Titans? You can't! You can't resist the power of the final seconds ticking down in slow motion. Don't even try.
As a funny side note: Gary Cole is in this as the coach of the team and most of his lines are made up of Important Life Lessons. And all I could think of while watching him was when he played Mike Brady in the Brady Bunch Movie and spouted off Important Life Lessons. That was played for laughs. This was not. But I laughed anyway.
Like/Don't Like: Feel-good sports movie. Like.
I get the gist of most sports, but rugby stumps me. As does cricket and Australian rules football. Basically sports that are popular primarily in the former British Empire are a complete mystery to me.
I was hoping that since this movie was about a high school rugby team I would get a handle but I finished it still not understanding the purpose of the scrum. Or why they all lift one guy up to catch the ball. And why they can't pass forward.
But not knowing these things didn't actually hinder enjoying the movie. It wasn't anything revolutionary, just your standard feel-good sports movie. I think we're hard-wired to like them. Who can resist Rudy (who is actually in this movie) or Hoosiers or Remember the Titans? You can't! You can't resist the power of the final seconds ticking down in slow motion. Don't even try.
As a funny side note: Gary Cole is in this as the coach of the team and most of his lines are made up of Important Life Lessons. And all I could think of while watching him was when he played Mike Brady in the Brady Bunch Movie and spouted off Important Life Lessons. That was played for laughs. This was not. But I laughed anyway.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Book: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Authors: Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Like/Don't Like: Clever
You know how in Anne of Green Gables Diana submits Anne's story, Avril's Atonement, to the Rolling's Reliable Baking Power contest by inserting that Avril uses Rolling's Reliable to make the cake? This is what Seth Grahame-Smith has done with Pride and Prejudice. Same story, just with zombies thrown in. It's pretty clever.
England has been plagued with the undead for decades when the story opens and the Bennett sisters have to do more than just take long walks and find husbands. They have to kill zombies too. They have studied extensively with Shaolin monks and never travel anywhere without their knives and shot guns.
I never get tired of reading Pride and Prejudice but after a while the zombie talk got a little old. It's not overbearing, but it lost its originality over time. There were a few funny twists that made the book hilarious. I won't give them away but I will tell you that Charlotte Lucas doesn't marry Mr. Collins out of a desire to be mistress of her own home. There are darker reasons for it.
Authors: Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Like/Don't Like: Clever
You know how in Anne of Green Gables Diana submits Anne's story, Avril's Atonement, to the Rolling's Reliable Baking Power contest by inserting that Avril uses Rolling's Reliable to make the cake? This is what Seth Grahame-Smith has done with Pride and Prejudice. Same story, just with zombies thrown in. It's pretty clever.
England has been plagued with the undead for decades when the story opens and the Bennett sisters have to do more than just take long walks and find husbands. They have to kill zombies too. They have studied extensively with Shaolin monks and never travel anywhere without their knives and shot guns.
I never get tired of reading Pride and Prejudice but after a while the zombie talk got a little old. It's not overbearing, but it lost its originality over time. There were a few funny twists that made the book hilarious. I won't give them away but I will tell you that Charlotte Lucas doesn't marry Mr. Collins out of a desire to be mistress of her own home. There are darker reasons for it.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Julie & Julia
Movie: Julie & Julia
Like/Don't Like: I'm seeing it again tomorrow. It's that good!
You know I'm sensitive to mouth noises, right? I mean, abnormally so. Chewing -- sometimes even my own -- makes my heart race with anxiety. It's horrible.
This movie is FULL OF LOUD CHEWING. And slurping and sipping and crunching. Just typing those words makes me want to crawl under my desk and cry.
And yet the movie just charmed the anxiety right out of me. I loved it. There was one scene at the beginning when I thought that Amy Adam's husband was chewing loudly enough to warrant a punch in the face, but after that I completely fell in love with everyone on the screen and forgot all about the squishy sounding food.
Most of that love was centered on Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci. What's not to love about them? They're amazing. It would have been easy enough for them to play the characters as the zany chef and the straight-man husband but they didn't. One of the best parts about the film is how sweet and real their relationship is. It was very refreshing to see a happily married couple in a movie. Two, actually, because Amy Adam's character and her husband had a great relationship too. Despite his disgusting chewing habits.
So the acting was great, the story moved along nicely, which is a feat considering how it jumps back and forth between Julie and Julia, and the food looked delicious. Don't go hungry.
Addendum: I saw this a second time and I remembered something I wanted to comment on. Both Julie and Julia wear fabulous brooches and pins in the movie. FABULOUS! Julia had on a sparkly monogram brooch that, were it mine, I would put on the pillow beside me and snuggle with at night.
Like/Don't Like: I'm seeing it again tomorrow. It's that good!
You know I'm sensitive to mouth noises, right? I mean, abnormally so. Chewing -- sometimes even my own -- makes my heart race with anxiety. It's horrible.
This movie is FULL OF LOUD CHEWING. And slurping and sipping and crunching. Just typing those words makes me want to crawl under my desk and cry.
And yet the movie just charmed the anxiety right out of me. I loved it. There was one scene at the beginning when I thought that Amy Adam's husband was chewing loudly enough to warrant a punch in the face, but after that I completely fell in love with everyone on the screen and forgot all about the squishy sounding food.
Most of that love was centered on Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci. What's not to love about them? They're amazing. It would have been easy enough for them to play the characters as the zany chef and the straight-man husband but they didn't. One of the best parts about the film is how sweet and real their relationship is. It was very refreshing to see a happily married couple in a movie. Two, actually, because Amy Adam's character and her husband had a great relationship too. Despite his disgusting chewing habits.
So the acting was great, the story moved along nicely, which is a feat considering how it jumps back and forth between Julie and Julia, and the food looked delicious. Don't go hungry.
Addendum: I saw this a second time and I remembered something I wanted to comment on. Both Julie and Julia wear fabulous brooches and pins in the movie. FABULOUS! Julia had on a sparkly monogram brooch that, were it mine, I would put on the pillow beside me and snuggle with at night.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Sabriel
Book: Sabriel
Author: Garth Nix
Like/Don't Like: I managed to like it, even without a glossary.
I'm going to admit that I'm not that big of a fantasy fan and I generally stay away from it. But there were several circumstances that led me to this book: 1.) a lot of reliable people have recommended it, 2.) in the last month I have started and stopped 4 books because either the writing was bad, the story was not to my taste, excess smuttiness, or combinations of the three, 3.) it was at the library and I was desperate.
But even desperation cannot take away my initial problem with fantasy, which is this: Fantasy fiction doesn't do such a hot job of explaining itself. It just dumps you in the middle of a made-up world without any kind of context and you have to do all this work to figure it out. I personally find this distracting. I lose all interest in the story because I can't get passed not understanding the details of the world the story is set in. I spend a large chunk of the book with the feeling that I missed a page, or I didn't read closely enough because half the time I have no idea what the characters are talking about.
I suppose if I had read a lot of fantasy when I was a kid I wouldn't have such a problem with it now. But I never did. I didn't read the Narnia books until I was in college. Lord of the Rings - not until after college. Same with A Wrinkle in Time. All those classics you probably read as kids weren't even on my radar.
I'm not sad about this at all. I had a great time reading as a kid. I'm just saying that reading fantasy now as an adult is like trying to learn Finnish as an adult.
And I'm also just saying that this book could have used a glossary. Or a 2 page appendix giving me a little hint as to what free magic was, and how there came to be two worlds, and who are the Clayr, and what's the difference between a necromancer and an Abhorsen, and who was Sabriel's mom, and what's with all the dead, and not just all the dead but all the different levels of dead including, but not limited to, Sendings, Hands, and Shadow Hands, and how does one become a Charter Mage and why are some of them outside of the Old Kingdom.
You probably read that last paragraph and thought, "I don't even know what you're talking about!" Which is exactly how I felt through most of this book.
The only thing that kept me going was that it was a pretty interesting story about this young girl named Sabriel who has to travel into the Old Kingdom to find her dead father. Only he's just mostly dead. (Thinking of Miracle Max in the Princess Bride also helped.) And about halfway through I started to get my bearings and decided to just ignore all references to magic or dead things or charter-whatevers that I didn't get and enjoy the story. Which I did.
Author: Garth Nix
Like/Don't Like: I managed to like it, even without a glossary.
I'm going to admit that I'm not that big of a fantasy fan and I generally stay away from it. But there were several circumstances that led me to this book: 1.) a lot of reliable people have recommended it, 2.) in the last month I have started and stopped 4 books because either the writing was bad, the story was not to my taste, excess smuttiness, or combinations of the three, 3.) it was at the library and I was desperate.
But even desperation cannot take away my initial problem with fantasy, which is this: Fantasy fiction doesn't do such a hot job of explaining itself. It just dumps you in the middle of a made-up world without any kind of context and you have to do all this work to figure it out. I personally find this distracting. I lose all interest in the story because I can't get passed not understanding the details of the world the story is set in. I spend a large chunk of the book with the feeling that I missed a page, or I didn't read closely enough because half the time I have no idea what the characters are talking about.
I suppose if I had read a lot of fantasy when I was a kid I wouldn't have such a problem with it now. But I never did. I didn't read the Narnia books until I was in college. Lord of the Rings - not until after college. Same with A Wrinkle in Time. All those classics you probably read as kids weren't even on my radar.
I'm not sad about this at all. I had a great time reading as a kid. I'm just saying that reading fantasy now as an adult is like trying to learn Finnish as an adult.
And I'm also just saying that this book could have used a glossary. Or a 2 page appendix giving me a little hint as to what free magic was, and how there came to be two worlds, and who are the Clayr, and what's the difference between a necromancer and an Abhorsen, and who was Sabriel's mom, and what's with all the dead, and not just all the dead but all the different levels of dead including, but not limited to, Sendings, Hands, and Shadow Hands, and how does one become a Charter Mage and why are some of them outside of the Old Kingdom.
You probably read that last paragraph and thought, "I don't even know what you're talking about!" Which is exactly how I felt through most of this book.
The only thing that kept me going was that it was a pretty interesting story about this young girl named Sabriel who has to travel into the Old Kingdom to find her dead father. Only he's just mostly dead. (Thinking of Miracle Max in the Princess Bride also helped.) And about halfway through I started to get my bearings and decided to just ignore all references to magic or dead things or charter-whatevers that I didn't get and enjoy the story. Which I did.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Movie: Confessions of a Shopaholic
Like/Don't Like: It was okay
I never know what to say about movies like this. Because you know what you're getting when you watch it. It was cute, and there were crazy clothes, and life lessons learned. And isn't Hugh Dancy just so charming? But it wasn't mind blowing or anything. There were some moments when I was feeling like I may have a heart attack because nothing makes me stress more than money issues. So those scenes when she was spending way too much I wanted to scream, "Don't Do It!!!!" But that's about as riled up as a gal can get with this sort of movie.
I guess the best I can say is that I didn't feel like it was a waste of time to watch.
Like/Don't Like: It was okay
I never know what to say about movies like this. Because you know what you're getting when you watch it. It was cute, and there were crazy clothes, and life lessons learned. And isn't Hugh Dancy just so charming? But it wasn't mind blowing or anything. There were some moments when I was feeling like I may have a heart attack because nothing makes me stress more than money issues. So those scenes when she was spending way too much I wanted to scream, "Don't Do It!!!!" But that's about as riled up as a gal can get with this sort of movie.
I guess the best I can say is that I didn't feel like it was a waste of time to watch.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Movie: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Like/Don't Like: Eh, liked
I feel like maybe I should watch this movie again. Because I think I should have liked it more. I mean, it was alright. I guess. But it was long...and long...and kind of slow at times. It didn't have anything to jump start it like the other ones. It just kind of gradually started and didn't pick up steam until the last 45 minutes or so. They spent the bulk of the time playing up the romance between Harry & Ginny and Ron & Hermoine. I vaguely remember that taking up a lot of the book (it's been a while since I've read it so I basically remember that Dumbledore dies) so I get it. Maybe they were trying to be faithful. But maybe they could have been faithful to the parts that didn't involve love-sick glances and longing sighs. What is this, Twilight?
I really hate saying that because I wanted to love this movie. I really did. I love Harry and his gang. I love the books. I love the movies. But I didn't love this one. Neither did the guy sitting a few rows behind me who loudly yawned about every 10 minutes or so. And then I think I heard him snore a few times.
Although the girls behind me were dying...DYING...over it. They loved it. They squealed and kicked my chair and at the funny parts one girl laughed so hard that she spit what felt like crushed up pieces of ice on the back of my head. Ah, youth. (Side note: She also had a very wet and snotty laugh. She sounded like a pug. Weird.)
So I didn't love it but there were plenty of things to like about it. For one thing, there's Alan Rickman. I love him as Snape. Love him! His words just sort of seep out of him. And I thought they did the whole scary part at the lake in the cave bit brilliantly. I was sufficiently scared. Ron and the love potions was pretty funny. Plus, it's just nice to be with them again. Like a family reunion with your fun relatives. Not the relatives who bug you.
Let me know if you've seen it and what you thought.
Like/Don't Like: Eh, liked
I feel like maybe I should watch this movie again. Because I think I should have liked it more. I mean, it was alright. I guess. But it was long...and long...and kind of slow at times. It didn't have anything to jump start it like the other ones. It just kind of gradually started and didn't pick up steam until the last 45 minutes or so. They spent the bulk of the time playing up the romance between Harry & Ginny and Ron & Hermoine. I vaguely remember that taking up a lot of the book (it's been a while since I've read it so I basically remember that Dumbledore dies) so I get it. Maybe they were trying to be faithful. But maybe they could have been faithful to the parts that didn't involve love-sick glances and longing sighs. What is this, Twilight?
I really hate saying that because I wanted to love this movie. I really did. I love Harry and his gang. I love the books. I love the movies. But I didn't love this one. Neither did the guy sitting a few rows behind me who loudly yawned about every 10 minutes or so. And then I think I heard him snore a few times.
Although the girls behind me were dying...DYING...over it. They loved it. They squealed and kicked my chair and at the funny parts one girl laughed so hard that she spit what felt like crushed up pieces of ice on the back of my head. Ah, youth. (Side note: She also had a very wet and snotty laugh. She sounded like a pug. Weird.)
So I didn't love it but there were plenty of things to like about it. For one thing, there's Alan Rickman. I love him as Snape. Love him! His words just sort of seep out of him. And I thought they did the whole scary part at the lake in the cave bit brilliantly. I was sufficiently scared. Ron and the love potions was pretty funny. Plus, it's just nice to be with them again. Like a family reunion with your fun relatives. Not the relatives who bug you.
Let me know if you've seen it and what you thought.
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