Books & Films / October 2004
Sunday, October 31st, 2004 20:29![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittiwakeThis month's must read book is "The Little Earth Book".
This month's must see movie is "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow".
Books Read
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self - Claire Tomalin
Years of Rice and Salt - Kim Stanley Robinson
The Book, the Film and the T-Shirt - Matt Beaumont
Demons and Dreams: The Best Fantasy and Horror 1 - ed. Terri Windling & Ellen Datlow
The Little Earth Book - James Bruges
Here is my October reviews post to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
50bookchallenge.
Cinema Trips
Hero
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
The Isle
Bride and Prejudice
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Alfie
"Hero"
Visually beautiful. I loved the colours and the flowing gowns. The army at the King of Qin's palace reminded me of a swarm of beetles. All dressed in black, and the clatter of their swords and shields sounded like beetle wing-cases clicking. I think it was the way the messenger skittered down the steps all hunched forward and wearing the strange headdress that first sparked my idea about the beetles.
I can't say anything much about the plot without giving things away that came as a surprise to me, but it was quite unexpectedly moving towards the end.
"Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow"
Another wonderful-looking film, with washed-out colours and a very grainy look to the film, enormous CGI sets, flying robots filling the sky and an art-deco space ship. There is a wonderfully retro comic-book feel to it throughout. Sky Captain is a Biggles-like figure whose mercenary air force is based a short car-ride from Manhattan. It is set in an alternate version of 1940s America, where the Hindenburg moors at the mast on top of the Empire State Building after an Atlantic crossing, and has a suitably retro plot in which an evil genius kidnaps scientists to do his work and creates giant robots and burrowing machines to steal equipment and raw materials. Events are mentioned as having happened before or after the first world war, so there must have been a second world war in this reality, but there are no clues as to how recently it finished or who it was fought against. But what I really want to know is why the Royal Navy haven't got flying aircraft carriers like those in the film!
"The Isle"
Didn't really like it, as mentioned earlier in the month.
"Bride and Prejudice"
A great version of P&P. But only 4 Bennet daughters - whatever happened to Kitty? The other times I've seen Bollywood movies they have't had subtitles so they've been rather hard to follow. But this was mostly in English.
"Breakfast at Tiffany's"
The best bits were "Moon River" and the Cat, as always.
"Alfie"
I've never seen the original, but this was ok.
This month's must see movie is "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow".
Books Read
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self - Claire Tomalin
Years of Rice and Salt - Kim Stanley Robinson
The Book, the Film and the T-Shirt - Matt Beaumont
Demons and Dreams: The Best Fantasy and Horror 1 - ed. Terri Windling & Ellen Datlow
The Little Earth Book - James Bruges
Here is my October reviews post to
50bookchallenge.Cinema Trips
Hero
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
The Isle
Bride and Prejudice
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Alfie
"Hero"
Visually beautiful. I loved the colours and the flowing gowns. The army at the King of Qin's palace reminded me of a swarm of beetles. All dressed in black, and the clatter of their swords and shields sounded like beetle wing-cases clicking. I think it was the way the messenger skittered down the steps all hunched forward and wearing the strange headdress that first sparked my idea about the beetles.
I can't say anything much about the plot without giving things away that came as a surprise to me, but it was quite unexpectedly moving towards the end.
"Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow"
Another wonderful-looking film, with washed-out colours and a very grainy look to the film, enormous CGI sets, flying robots filling the sky and an art-deco space ship. There is a wonderfully retro comic-book feel to it throughout. Sky Captain is a Biggles-like figure whose mercenary air force is based a short car-ride from Manhattan. It is set in an alternate version of 1940s America, where the Hindenburg moors at the mast on top of the Empire State Building after an Atlantic crossing, and has a suitably retro plot in which an evil genius kidnaps scientists to do his work and creates giant robots and burrowing machines to steal equipment and raw materials. Events are mentioned as having happened before or after the first world war, so there must have been a second world war in this reality, but there are no clues as to how recently it finished or who it was fought against. But what I really want to know is why the Royal Navy haven't got flying aircraft carriers like those in the film!
"The Isle"
Didn't really like it, as mentioned earlier in the month.
"Bride and Prejudice"
A great version of P&P. But only 4 Bennet daughters - whatever happened to Kitty? The other times I've seen Bollywood movies they have't had subtitles so they've been rather hard to follow. But this was mostly in English.
"Breakfast at Tiffany's"
The best bits were "Moon River" and the Cat, as always.
"Alfie"
I've never seen the original, but this was ok.
