Books & Films / January 2004
Saturday, January 31st, 2004 23:48![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittiwakeThis month's must read book is "Last Tango in Aberystwyth".
This month's must see movie is "Lost in Translation".
Books Read
The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents - Julia Alvarez
The Life & Death of Lord Errol - Errol Trzebinski
Tears of the Giraffe - Alexander McCall Smith
Suckers - Anne Billson
Last Tango in Aberystwyth - Malcolm Pryce
The Desperate Remedy - Martin Stephen
Here are my first and second posts to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
50bookchallenge in January.
Cinema Trips
Interstellar 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem
Lost in Translation
Big Fish
Girl with a Pearl Earring
A Mighty Wind
"Interstellar 5555"
An extended anime pop video. So-so.
"Lost in Translation"
Both Bill Murray & Scarlett Johansson were both excellent in an unusual movie. The slowly developing was story set mainly in a large hotel in Tokyo with occasional forays into the city. It had a dreamlike feel to it, with lots of scenes looking out through the large windows the hotel at the city spread out below. I now want to see Japan even more than I did before.
"Big Fish"
A man's life seen through the fantastic tales he told. From his life he spun a mythology of giants, mysterious villages, werewolves, circus freaks. At the very end of the film came the graveyard scene when the fantasy and reality came together and Will could see that not all of his father's stories were lies. Good special effects - the conjoined twins were fantastic. The actor playing Ed Bloom aged 10 or 12 looked stunningly similar to Ewan McGregor, but unfortunately I couldn't believe in them aging into Albert Finney. The most annoying thing was Ed's son Will whining about his father's tall stories in the present-day framing story; I could have done without that.
"Girl with a Pearl Earring"
Slow-moving and very atmospheric, with lots of people looking though half-open doors into shadow-filled rooms, and not much dialogue. The actress playing Vermeer's spiteful daughter Cornelia definitely has a strong screen presence (she also played the little girl in "The Others"), but the character reminded me of Nellie Olsen from "Little House on the Prairie".
"A Mighty Wind"
Amusing mockumentary directed by Christopher Guest, about a reunion concert bringing together three groups of 1960s folk musicians (strangely reminiscent of the Bluegrass reunion in "Down from the Mountain"). But I still prefer "Best of Breed", their spoof on pedigree dog owners preparing for a important dog show which featured most of the same cast.
This month's must see movie is "Lost in Translation".
Books Read
The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents - Julia Alvarez
The Life & Death of Lord Errol - Errol Trzebinski
Tears of the Giraffe - Alexander McCall Smith
Suckers - Anne Billson
Last Tango in Aberystwyth - Malcolm Pryce
The Desperate Remedy - Martin Stephen
Here are my first and second posts to
50bookchallenge in January.Cinema Trips
Interstellar 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem
Lost in Translation
Big Fish
Girl with a Pearl Earring
A Mighty Wind
"Interstellar 5555"
An extended anime pop video. So-so.
"Lost in Translation"
Both Bill Murray & Scarlett Johansson were both excellent in an unusual movie. The slowly developing was story set mainly in a large hotel in Tokyo with occasional forays into the city. It had a dreamlike feel to it, with lots of scenes looking out through the large windows the hotel at the city spread out below. I now want to see Japan even more than I did before.
"Big Fish"
A man's life seen through the fantastic tales he told. From his life he spun a mythology of giants, mysterious villages, werewolves, circus freaks. At the very end of the film came the graveyard scene when the fantasy and reality came together and Will could see that not all of his father's stories were lies. Good special effects - the conjoined twins were fantastic. The actor playing Ed Bloom aged 10 or 12 looked stunningly similar to Ewan McGregor, but unfortunately I couldn't believe in them aging into Albert Finney. The most annoying thing was Ed's son Will whining about his father's tall stories in the present-day framing story; I could have done without that.
"Girl with a Pearl Earring"
Slow-moving and very atmospheric, with lots of people looking though half-open doors into shadow-filled rooms, and not much dialogue. The actress playing Vermeer's spiteful daughter Cornelia definitely has a strong screen presence (she also played the little girl in "The Others"), but the character reminded me of Nellie Olsen from "Little House on the Prairie".
"A Mighty Wind"
Amusing mockumentary directed by Christopher Guest, about a reunion concert bringing together three groups of 1960s folk musicians (strangely reminiscent of the Bluegrass reunion in "Down from the Mountain"). But I still prefer "Best of Breed", their spoof on pedigree dog owners preparing for a important dog show which featured most of the same cast.
