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Recommended Reads and See's: Special Awesome Edition!
Monday, August 18th, 2008 07:28 pmIn books:
City of Fire: A book club read, good but not stellar. The short version of the story would be something like Prime Suspect Goes to L.A.. While I enjoyed this book, there were several gruesome crime scenes described in fairly lurid detail (and while I'm usually on irony's side, death by Viagra was not something I had really wanted to think about or picture, really.) I did enjoy the main character's true self reliance and stamina in the face of a lot of unpleasantness from all sides. I will say, though, just for the record, that I am getting tired of the serial killer story where the killer targets our heroine. The scenes where he's stalking her are often disturbing and wholly unnecessary. I would be a lot enthusiastic about this book if it didn't have this element in it.
Three Bags Full: A highly superior murder mystery, with a marvelous premise: a flock of sheep investigate the death of their shepherd. (How do they know he's dead? Humans don't normally have spades sticking out of their chests, and he won't get up and read them stories the way they like.) Naturally, the sheep's inherent lack of intelligence is made up for because this particular flock has the most intelligent sheep in the whole world as its investigator: Miss Maple is determined to get to the bottom of the story and answer all the sticky questions that the other sheep come up with (and in one of the author's most entertaining twists, the name is not a pun on Miss Marple.) The story unfolds at a number of levels, some of which escape the sheep completely, and ambles along to a highly entertaining and satisfying conclusion. I would have much preferred that this be the book club book, and have requested it for next year. Awesome reading!
On the upcoming reading list:
~Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Zen Teachings of Shunryu Suzuki
~First Among Sequels
~The Ten-Cent Plague (I'm about halfway through already.)
~Marley and Me
In movies:
Tell No One: This French thriller is so good, and it's getting almost no press as it plays the art house circuit. It is well worth hunting down at your local artsy mini-plex! What![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
yebisu9 and I liked best was the pacing. Had this been an American movie, there would have bigger everything: violence, blood, and maybe even an explosion or two to "liven up" the story. The violence in this movie is so sparing that when it does happen, it's jarring and wrong--precisely the way violence should be, never glamorized and depicted as catastrophic for those who are its victims. Instead of a slam-bang opening, the movie begins slowly, and it's not until a third of the way in, when the unanswered, heavy questions start to pile up that you realize how vital the slow start was in setting the stage for the rest of the story. Really, seeing this movie was like eating a fillet mignon after a week of McDonalds hamburgers.
Tropic Thunder: Uhm, well, there are funny parts, but you have to sit through some weird stuff to get to them. Basically, I get the feeling that the writers thought that certain jokes were really funny, but didn't realize that those certain jokes were only funny to the three of them. What else can I say? It wasn't nearly as offensive as I expected? But I can see how other people would be offended. Should have saved it for a rental.
In DVDs:
I've enjoyed watching the latest BBC version of Robin Hood so very much, but I really think the title should have been Robin Hood: MADE OF AWESOME, because just about every episode was filmed in such a way that the denouement depicted one (and often all) of our heroes/heroines at their AWESOMEST, whether it was a sneak attack on the Sherriff's useless troops or a sudden and clever solution to a death trap. So I was somewhat alarmed when the last episode of Season 2 turned dark and serious and went the character-death route. And... well. Argh. I'm sorry that it happened, and a little bemused that the writers would do that (seriously, what do they think they're doing? Robin Hood's not Robin Hood without this character!) However, it still doesn't change the fact that I really do look forward to the next season. Highly recommended for AWESOME!
City of Fire: A book club read, good but not stellar. The short version of the story would be something like Prime Suspect Goes to L.A.. While I enjoyed this book, there were several gruesome crime scenes described in fairly lurid detail (and while I'm usually on irony's side, death by Viagra was not something I had really wanted to think about or picture, really.) I did enjoy the main character's true self reliance and stamina in the face of a lot of unpleasantness from all sides. I will say, though, just for the record, that I am getting tired of the serial killer story where the killer targets our heroine. The scenes where he's stalking her are often disturbing and wholly unnecessary. I would be a lot enthusiastic about this book if it didn't have this element in it.
Three Bags Full: A highly superior murder mystery, with a marvelous premise: a flock of sheep investigate the death of their shepherd. (How do they know he's dead? Humans don't normally have spades sticking out of their chests, and he won't get up and read them stories the way they like.) Naturally, the sheep's inherent lack of intelligence is made up for because this particular flock has the most intelligent sheep in the whole world as its investigator: Miss Maple is determined to get to the bottom of the story and answer all the sticky questions that the other sheep come up with (and in one of the author's most entertaining twists, the name is not a pun on Miss Marple.) The story unfolds at a number of levels, some of which escape the sheep completely, and ambles along to a highly entertaining and satisfying conclusion. I would have much preferred that this be the book club book, and have requested it for next year. Awesome reading!
On the upcoming reading list:
~Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Zen Teachings of Shunryu Suzuki
~First Among Sequels
~The Ten-Cent Plague (I'm about halfway through already.)
~Marley and Me
In movies:
Tell No One: This French thriller is so good, and it's getting almost no press as it plays the art house circuit. It is well worth hunting down at your local artsy mini-plex! What
yebisu9 and I liked best was the pacing. Had this been an American movie, there would have bigger everything: violence, blood, and maybe even an explosion or two to "liven up" the story. The violence in this movie is so sparing that when it does happen, it's jarring and wrong--precisely the way violence should be, never glamorized and depicted as catastrophic for those who are its victims. Instead of a slam-bang opening, the movie begins slowly, and it's not until a third of the way in, when the unanswered, heavy questions start to pile up that you realize how vital the slow start was in setting the stage for the rest of the story. Really, seeing this movie was like eating a fillet mignon after a week of McDonalds hamburgers.Tropic Thunder: Uhm, well, there are funny parts, but you have to sit through some weird stuff to get to them. Basically, I get the feeling that the writers thought that certain jokes were really funny, but didn't realize that those certain jokes were only funny to the three of them. What else can I say? It wasn't nearly as offensive as I expected? But I can see how other people would be offended. Should have saved it for a rental.
In DVDs:
I've enjoyed watching the latest BBC version of Robin Hood so very much, but I really think the title should have been Robin Hood: MADE OF AWESOME, because just about every episode was filmed in such a way that the denouement depicted one (and often all) of our heroes/heroines at their AWESOMEST, whether it was a sneak attack on the Sherriff's useless troops or a sudden and clever solution to a death trap. So I was somewhat alarmed when the last episode of Season 2 turned dark and serious and went the character-death route. And... well. Argh. I'm sorry that it happened, and a little bemused that the writers would do that (seriously, what do they think they're doing? Robin Hood's not Robin Hood without this character!) However, it still doesn't change the fact that I really do look forward to the next season. Highly recommended for AWESOME!
