Gilead (2004) by Marilynne Robinson

Good God. This book, which won the 2005 Pulitzer and the 2004 National Book Critics Circle Award, is a quiet heartbreaker.

The book is a fictional epistolary autobiography of a dying preacher whose son (aged only 7) will go most of his life without his father and, thus, the preacher/father is writing this book to the son. So, we start there, and Robinson manages to keep the reader engaged (even a heathen like me who'd rather not have long conversations about God, even with a book) and interested with sub-plots but the real wallop comes at the end when, suddenly and unexpectedly, you miss the old man, and painfully so. Robinson's story worms it's way into your heart without you knowing and makes itself at home quietly until you're struck by the smallest but most profound moment of the novel, and then the preacher is gone.

There are long conversations about God, yes, but those are magnanimous and inclusive. But what really got me was this old man's musings on his very young son and his friend's adult son. One instance I remember in particular is an paragraph or so about how the boy is spending the night at a friend's house and the preacher missed him dearly. Tiny moments like that are woven seamlessly with the history of the family, retrospection about sermons past, a little family drama involving an old friend, and the introspection about death and leaving behind a young family.

I'm going to have to get my hands on Robinson's Housekeeping and Home soon. Very soon. Well, as soon as I recover.

Salt (2010)

Hmpf. It's a strange thing to walk out of a movie and know exactly what is wrong with it and how to fix it without much thought.

Salt isn't terrible and it was entertaining but it has a lot of easily resolved faults.

Fair warning: spoilery things below













The chief problem with the film is that it doesn't really allow any doubt at all. We know from the beginning who is good, who is bad, and what's going to happen. To allow the reader to have doubt, these things needed to happen:

1. Delete all of the flashback scenes. They tell the audience that Salt is likable and sympathetic and likely to do anything for her husband. There is not enough Salt is bad early enough in the movie to counteract the fact that we know she's going to look for her husband. Deleting those scenes allows the viewer to question whether she actually loved the man. Or, conversely, add in some scenes where she's a bad ass and killing people without remorse or something. But, she'd also have to deck her husband in a scene, too. So, yeah, delete them.

2. I LOVE Chiwetel Ejiofor and wish he were in more movies and this comment has absolutely nothing to do with is performance. His character needs to be deleted. His doubt about Salt at the cathedral eliminates any and all minuscule doubt that Salt is a good guy. I understand that he's needed to set up the possibility of sequels but get over it and do it another way. OR, novelty!, don't set up sequels before polishing this script.

3. LOVE Liev Schreiber but he's often the good guy who is really a bad guy so casting him tells the audience that he's the bad guy. And, when we already know that Salt is not the bad guy, the options are limited to, well, Schreiber's Winter.

4. Delete the fragment of a scene in which Salt extracts the spider venom. We've seen the spider and we can make the tiny miniature leap when the time comes but there is no way in hell a Russian and American trained spy takes the time to extract spider venom without having a very specific use for it.

The other huge problem: relevance. I'll be 31 in a little over a month and people my age are the youngest of those to even remotely understand any sort of Russian threat. Now, bad Russians poison spies horribly but cowardly and the Russian spies we catch are a tad incompetent and just get sent home. Conclusion: Russians aren't scary anymore and you're losing a lot of a movie audience for an action thriller if you're eliminating the under-30 crowd. Actually, go with the beginning of the film: North Korean bad guys are super scary right now.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)

Hello, geekiness! This time brought to you with more links! Exciting.

Loved it!

I will admit that I had my doubts going in about this movie. I mean Nic Cage can make some pretty, um, well, interesting choices and he was at the helm of this one from the beginning. And who thought a live-action movie based on the Mickey sequence from Fantasia was going to work out? Last time anyone screwed with Fantasia it was, er, well, let's go with interesting again, shall we?

But this was a solid, plays by the rules it sets for itself, "Enchanted for boys" (as J put it). Nic Cage was fab and deliciously wacky in what I hope is a turn for the positive in his career--although I seriously want to know where he got that hat after being released from the urn. And could they have found a cuter, geekier child than Jay Baruchel? (Yes, I know he's only actually 3 years younger than I am but he was playing 7 years younger than that so he's a child for this post). I also have to mention my love of the uber absurd Criss Angel/David Blaine character, Drake Stone--played by the fun Toby Kebbell who I hope keeps getting parts in movies I'm interested in (because, RocknRolla? He was fun but the movie--not so much). The bulldog, meanwhile, was seriously underused.

While we're talking cast, I always love Alfred Molina as a villain and am beyond thrilled to see he has a host of projects upcoming beyond the move to TV. I love me some Law & Order reruns but what has Jeff Goldblum done since joining the cast? (a big fat not a damned thing is what)

Something I hate that I didn't love? Ian McShane's narration. *Sigh* (He's making up for it, though).

I also could have done without the intro. scenes especially since all of that history is explained again later and if I wanted to see a movie with the historical vibe, I wouldn't choose a modern-day sorcerer movie. And, thinking about it, I might have chosen a different witch/sorcerer/bad guy to replace the Salem child witch, Abigail Williams. She just wasn't all that interesting, especially when Sun-Lok got a dragon.

But, overall, the plot was solid and I loved the mix of science and magic (as did my bestest Tracy) and the cute love story times two. And all of that makes up for the easily forgotten intro. with narration. And the end quickly erases any "eh" feelings about the witchy child.

Inception (2010)

Forgive the blog break--I went on vacation for a week! And, surprisingly, we only saw one movie. Luckily, J and I convinced our fellow vacationers that Inception was the infinitely better choice over The Last Airbender.

So, if you're one of those people who are avoiding any and everything until you see it: it was great; see it; stop reading now.

And, if you're ok with spoilery chit chat about it: scroll down a bit and we'll chat.


















Christopher Nolan may be a mad genius. I don't actually know if he's mad but it seems he'd have to be to have Memento, both Batmans, and Inception spring from his head. But, Inception. Wow.

The casting was brilliant. DiCaprio didn't bug me the way he can sometimes. Page was excellent in what may be (finally!) a good transition away from Juno. Gordon-Levitt just keeps getting better and better and ended up being one of my favorite characters (um, hello, cool weightless hotel hall fight scene!). Cotillard was perfect and I love the Piaf references. Watantabe? Who doesn't love him? And THANK YOU Christopher Nolan for continuing to employ Cillian Murphy in things I can watch! And, um, Tom Hardy is my new favorite person. Then add on Berenger and Cain? Yeah, good, solid cast. And no one thought it necessary to upstage one another. Way to play nicely :)

Now, the tricksy plot. This film could have been a train wreck of ginormous proportions. It could be worse than The Last Airbender**. But it's not. It's a well written script that makes an incredibly complicated narrative structure simple for the viewer (thank you set designers and costumers for your help in that matter, too). Now, did I know the moment DiCaprio said inception was possible that he'd tried it on his wife. Yes. Did I care that I knew? No. And that's the trick. I don't know how to do it since I'm not a creative writer of any sort but I know that's one of the trickiest things to do: to allow the viewer to know a specific part of the ending without losing that viewer or making that viewer angry at the laziness of the writer. Nolan also managed to weave together two plots (the extraction and the mad woman in the dream basement) without compromising either.

The film is also just gorgeous. The worlds for each dream level are distinct but not distracting. The costuming and make-up works effortlessly (except Page's strange bun in the hotel scenes--that wasn't working for me at all).

A few specifics I can think of off the top of my head:

I LOVED the tie the dreaming people together like balloons and put them in the elevator solution. Way to be simple and effective.

I needed a little more exposition about Eames pulling out the big gun and saying "Dream bigger" because if he can pull that out of nowhere, why couldn't they have an armored van/truck, and, if he didn't pull it out of nowhere, I need to know so I'm not asking about armored vehicles.

Speaking of, the van falling into the water *may* have continuity issues?

Putting Mal in the basement instead of the attic was a nice touch.

Was the top spinning at the end a little infuriating? Yes. A little predictable? Yes. Perfect? Yes.




Shall we challenge Althelas to a post with her opinions? Yes, I think we shall ;)



**No, you didn't miss a post. I haven't seen and most likely will never see The Last Airbender. I simply like to make fun of Shamalamdingdong's movies as much as possible because they suck and he's given way too much credit for his twisty b.s.

"Jumping Jacks" from The Surf Guru by Doug Dorst

Hmmmm. Now we have something interesting.

Here Dorst may be at his best. This two and a half page story is contained, well-written, and engulfs the reader. Dorst manages to have the language pull and push the reader into emotions felt by the main character without much set-up which is quite the feat.

But, then I don't quite follow the penultimate paragraph so I'm knocked out of the story by having to re-read a few times. And I still don't quite get it. I have a few theories but none are supported entirely by the text. While having theories about what happens is great and I'm not advocating an obvious text, that one paragraph just doesn't fit with the rest. It's a bulwark in an otherwise fast-paced, emotionally charged narrative and because of it the story is derailed.

"Vikings" from The Surf Guru by Doug Dorst

Sigh. The one bad story one good one bad one good roller coaster is getting a little tiresome but at least "Vikings" is going in the good column.

This one, again, reads true. Dorst isn't trying on a foreign narrative voice--and I mean that in most senses of the word "foreign"--and he isn't trying out a formatting contrivance. When he just writes, he does it well. Again, I was allowed to mingle with these characters; I was allowed to read without being tossed out of the narrative. Because of that I was allowed to feel something at the end. That is the point, after all.

I am curious, though, if Dorst knows the star closing pitcher for the Yankees is nicknamed "Mo." FYI: We're a Yankees household with our littlest cat named "Mo" for same said pitcher.

"La Fiesta de San Humberto el Menor" from The Surf Guru by Doug Dorst

On the first page of this story I wrote, "poor narrative voice--stiff." And that continues.

Apparently this story was inspired by a song, "Paradise," written by Alejandro Escoveda. I can't find this song or mention of this song online.

Regardless, the narrative voice is off. It sounds as if Dorst is trying to imitate an Hispanic author. But he fails in an almost Speedy Gonzales sort of way. Because the narrative voice rings flat and basically stereotypical, the rest of the story does as well. The son is reduced to a monkey and the daughter's redemption rings false if not impossible. The entire things reads almost like a minstrel show unfortunately.

And here I thought the stories were getting better . . .

"Dinaburg's Cake" from The Surf Guru by Doug Dorst

Or, how many times can Nat use the word "obsession" in one post?

Now we have something interesting. This story is miles more honest and drew me in immediately. There are no headings to kick me out of the narrative and I was allowed to engage with the characters and the plot.

What makes this one intriguing is the validation of the mother's obsessions by the daughter that the mother deems peculiarly obsessed. The mother, of course, never equates the obsessions and never understands that the obsessive behavior is rooted in the same things. This story also left the reader with something to ponder--not something missing but an interest in the characters that would naturally produce questions. I wonder if the validation of the obsession(s) quell the obsession(s) (probably not) or feed and produce more obsession(s). And, what happens to the non-OCD men in their lives? The end of the story leaves the men (and boy) in a situation that is bound to have consequences for the ladies. But what and how severe are they?

Sigh. If only this were a novel.

"The Surf Guru" from The Surf Guru by Doug Dorst (2010)

"The Surf Guru" is, obviously, the title story of Dorst's collection The Surf Guru but it is also the first story. The story is ok but could have used some simple editing. The headings within the story are useless, get in the way, and seem to be used in the way a college freshman would use headings in a research paper to meet a page requirement so his/her grade won't be docked (yeah, I teach college composition). Without those headings, the story would instantaneously be a more nuanced, subtle narrative with a little more heart. As it is, with those headings, the information about the Surf Guru seems clipped, lacking in depth and feeling, and as if I were reading headlines with a few preview lines from my feed reader and it seems just that--information--rather than narrative.

I have to say, this wasn't a promising start to the collection. I'm not a huge fan of short stories--they just aren't my genre and they require so much more to be well-done that it is glaringly obvious when something is of kilter. And too often something is amazingly off kilter. Plus, once I've read the story, I feel finished. I don't feel anything else drawing me in to read more of the book unless the stories are connected and then, really, that feels more like a novel than a collection anyway. So, we'll see about the rest of this book . . .

And We're Live . . .

Look for a few posts later today/tomorrow about the first few stories from Doug Dorst's The Surf Guru--the July selection of the Rumpus Book Club.

Adventureland (2009)

This movie just felt wrong to me.

It didn't feel like 1987. The dialogue was off. The costuming wasn't right. For the most part, the movie looked like now--a few people have decided the 80s were cool and are wearing bizarre clothes. But, overall, the main characters didn't fit into the era.

That James had just graduated from college felt off. I guessed he'd just graduated from high school before there were suggestions otherwise.

The relationships felt forced.

I was happy to get to see Ryan Reynolds, though.

Hotel for Dogs (2009)

Dogs! Lots and lots of dogs! I totally want to OWN the Hotel for Dogs. Except I don't want to offer services for other people's dogs. I want all of the dogs to be mine and, ok, my friends' dogs, too.

This one is cute enough. It's meant for children and is written as such and the child actors act as such. The adult cast is great and complements the children well without overpowering them or obviously out-acting them which can be a hard balance to strike

Did I mention the dogs?

Meanwhile, this was based on a novel written by Lois Duncan? I read a lot of Lois Duncan when I was young but it was all horror.

And, finally, there were lots and lots of dogs. Including a bulldog that I want to live at my house where I shall have a whole pack of stubby legged dogs.

A Chorus Line (1985)

How could I forget that I watched this the other week?

So, yeah, I think I needed to watch it closer to 1985 except not because I turned 6 just 3 months before the film was released . . . . so . . . . .yeah.

It's just really dated and watching it for the first time in 25 years after it was made is an experience from the costumes to the topics to the singing . . .

CoCo before Chanel (2009)

Why did no one tell me this movie is in French? It's extraordinarily difficult to catch up on blogging while having to read subtitles :)

It's fine. Too long. Too slow. Too frugal with Audrey Tatou's talent and quirk. Much much too frugal with the fashion. I understand that it is about her life before Chanel but still. The allure of CoCo Chanel IS Chanel. All we get of Chanel is a few line of text at the end that are choppy and poorly written, even for end text and even considering a possible French to English translation.

Wendy and Lucy (2008)

This post will contain spoilers.

First, I was afraid Lucy, the dog, would die in the first five minutes. Then I was afraid she'd live.

Wendy is an entirely unsympathetic character. The film does no work toward making the viewer feel her plight. We don't know why she's trying to find work in Alaska. We don't know anything about her past. We don't know anything about her other than she has a hard time keeping hold of her dog. I was, therefore, entirely unsympathetic at her arrest for attempting to steal a single can of Alpo. Wendy has a little over $500--the film makes a point of showing us her ledger--and one can of dog food will maybe feed a dog that size for a day. Meanwhile, her arrest cost her more than several bags of dog food and made me think her a moron. I was worried for Lucy but I did not care that Wendy did not have her. Instead I thought that whatever fate had befallen Lucy had to be better than someone who is clearly inept--she was, afterall tied outside the store and most likely could not have gotten away by herself so the whole Lucy-is-in-a-foster-home-surprise was not a surprise. Neither was Wendy leaving her there.

Waste of my time.

Man on Wire (2008)

Charming. Phillipe Petit is an entirely charming little man. It's incredibly easy to see how he managed to get so many people willing to help in his schemes even when they were beyond illegal and death defying. I do wish they'd told us what he's done since the World Trade Center walk but, I suppose that's what the internet is for.

Oscar and Lucinda (1997)

Cate Blanchett and Raph Fiennes? Yes, sir.

I've not read the book--never read any Carey, shamefully--but I think I'll put it on my list now. The film is gorgeous and the narrative moves along and opens beautifully in a fairy tale sort of way. The end? Sigh. It's fitting and moving and ultimately perfect but I'd love to change it.

RocknRolla (2008)

What? A movie should not have to be stopped 19 minutes in so J. can explain it to me. I'm not dim.

And what happened to Thandie Newton?

Citrus County by John Brandon (2010) AND the Rumpus Book Club

The Rumpus has a new book club. As mentioned earlier, I'm a sucker for hard copy books and an even bigger sucker for getting things in the mail and, perhaps, a bigger sucker for ARCs. So, of course, I joined immediately. Who doesn't want to read a new book and get to chat with the author?

Citrus County is a McSweeney's so, of course it's a gorgeous jacket-less book and the content is none too bad either. Brandon follows two children and a teacher through a tragedy while deftly making that tragedy remain in the background as opposed to overtaking the narrative like an 11 o'clock news story. The book feels like a soda bottle shaken and ready to explode but the cap is never taken off. Upon finishing the book, that feels a tad unsatisfying. What's the point of shaking a soda bottle if not to see the eruption? But, after leaving the book sit awhile, it makes sense and is ultimately the more challenging and honest approach. That 11 o'clock news story will fade, the damage to the individuals will not.

Up next: Doug Dorst's story collection, Surf Guru

A-Team (2010)

Somehow I missed the fact that George Peppard was Hannibal. I watched "The A-Team" on TV as a child and in my 20s Breakfast at Tiffany's became one of my favorite movies but the connection wasn't made until I saw a write-up on the movie . . .

Regardless, the movie was delightful. The actors were all well chosen for their parts and managed to both pay heed to the original without being constrained entirely so as to make the movie stiff. The plot was typical of the show but updated and, yes of course, more explosive.

Day for Night by Frederick Reiken (2010)

I have a serious weakness for hard cover books. It started during my dissertation writing when I wanted to read anything other than those I needed to. I piled up shiny hard covers rather than read another dusty, moldy, ugly book on terrorism from the library. While the buying spree abated after graduation, I still love a hardcover and sometimes find myself buying brand new books just because they are brand new. Occasionally, this pays off.

Day for Night could have been a grand disaster. Each chapter greets the reader with a new narrator, telling his or her story. While those stories are connected and contribute to the whole of the novel, they are not just turns in a linear narrative. Reiken manages to take each person's story and make it individual to that character while weaving a sophisticated, intriguing narrative. The flow of the novel as a whole is effortless as is each chapter and each character.

The highest praise I can give it: at the end I wished for more chapters, not because the end was lacking but because I was invested in these people and their lives.