Big Screen: Kick Ass

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So! Much! Fun!

There were only two things I didn’t like about this movie:

1) the casting of Nicolas Cage; and
2) the way Nicolas Cage played the dad like some kinda pervy pedophile instead of a dad out for justice. This part would have been done soooo much better by, say, the likes of Bruce Willis of 10 years ago. Or Michael Keaton. Or Jason Bateman.

But other than that I LOVED it. Despite the fact that all you want to do after watching it is call people lots of nasty names and get in some rowdy fights.

Big Screen: The Ghost Writer

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For the most part, this was a pretty good, interesting movie with a great noir-ish look and feel and some eventful plot twists. Ewan McGregor and Olivia Williams were great, Jim Belushi was surprisingly good. The cinematography was lovely: lots of moody lighting, fog, lights off in the distance, and spooky roads/paths. Liked the way the v. last scene was filmed a lot.

On the other hand, Kim Cattrall cannot maintain a British accent for more than a few words and her performance was really, really subpar. Either her character should have been changed to being an American or that role should have been recast.

À la Nick Hornby, books in/books out for March.

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Bought:

  • How to Knit a Love Song, by Rachael Herron

Read:
  • How to Knit a Love Song, by Rachael Herron
  • The Rebel Angels, by Robertson Davies (library) (re-read)
  • Blackout, by Connie Willis
  • The Walls of the Universe, by Paul Melko (library)
  • The Ugliest House in the World, by Peter Ho Davies (library)
  • The Delicacy and Strength of Lace, by Leslie Marmon Silko & James Wright (library)(letters)
  • Inside Mrs. B.’s Classroom, by Leslie Baldacci (library)(memoir)

Big Screen: Cop Out.

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Really funny. A must see if you are a Tracy Jordan fan; Bruce Willis suffers a bit in comparison. And dang he is looking old (seems much older here than in Die Hard 4, although that’s partly the character).

I didn’t love it quite as much as my Dad, (I felt like there were times when you could tell Kevin Smith only did the directing, and not the writing, it was missing a bit of his usual charm) but it was definitely worth the $11.

Letters: The Delicacy and Strength of Lace, by Leslie Marmon Silko & James Wright

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I’ve always been a sucker for the epistolary, whether fiction or not (as here).

These are really quite lovely, however, in their own right. Poets with great command of language, imagery, sensory. Their friendship grows across the page and their words become quite magical as they get to the nitty gritty of their lives.

Lovely, and sometimes, sad to read. I can’t remember where I saw this book recommended now, but I’m so glad I did.

Really makes you want to do nothing else but curl up with collections of their poems and get to know them even better.

Short Stories: The Ugliest House in the World, by Peter Ho Davies

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I’ve been wanting to try out some Peter Ho Davies ever since his novel “The Welsh Girl” was longlisted for the Booker prize (I am generally a fan of lots of stuff on the Booker long and short lists). Just happened to see this collection while in the library checking out Robertson Davies (for our March challenge) so I decided to check them out.

Intriguing and unusual mix of stories, representing his unusual background of 1/2 Welsh, 1/2 Chinese. Some of the Welsh stories felt very Australian to me — if you’ve ever been to Australia, after having spent time in England, it’s an interesting mix of British & Asian influences. These were entertaining, interesting and some really nice language choices. My favorite story was “A Union.”

SciFi: The Walls of the Universe, by Paul Melko

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Totally fascinating multiple universe / devices that enable travel between them / doppelgangers appearing / exploiting technology that wasn’t developed in the “then” that you’ve gone to…sometimes being caught powerless, and choosing which life is the one you want to stay in.

Liked the characters and the twists and the physics connections. Really intriguing!

DadReaction: Cop Out!

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Hilarious!! Tracy Morgan interrogates a suspect using nothing but rapid-fire movie quotes. Very tough woman victim in it, too–keeps screaming at the bad guys in Spanish no matter what they do to her. Willis staring at the insane partner he has is worth the price of admission.

EW saying Smith’s direction is flat-footed is SO off-base!!!! Some great visual jokes, lots of funny stuff. Also, EW is off-base just as badly when it talks about the (absent) racial tension!!!! It wasn’t about that!!!!!! COULD NOT believe Gleiberman’s review.

Highly Recommended.

So the top of my list right now!!

Family(minusGirl)Reaction: Lovely Bones

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I didn’t go see this b/c of an irritation I had with the book. Reading how much my parents liked it made me decide to check out showtimes…and it’s already left Chicago completely. Must not have done that well, but as you can read below, they thought it was great.

DadReaction: Did not read book. Thought it sounded too creepy. Must say though: this movie is transcendent. You’re really upset at the start and it takes you on a journey of reconciliation that’s so odd, so unusual–I thought, anyway–i just don’t get why only Tucci got a nomination (for a NOTHING part). Peter Jackson must wonder what he has to do anymore. I mean, King Kong was the movie of the year when IT came out. Not that this one is tops, but c’mon, guys, it’s so well done, so unusual, so powerful, it deserves a nod. A lot of the movie was the kid, though–really good casting. But everybody was good.

MomReaction: Your Dad would put it in the top 10 of the year. I liked the way it used horror movie techniques, music that makes you think something is going on, anticipation, really well and it was never a trick, something did happen. I also thought that you went from something that tore your heart out and then saw redemption–hard won. The family did get back to being able to love each other and live, even though something terrible had happened. And the bad guy was identified and died in a very fitting way. The between world was very interesting too.

This movie was complete. It expressed real pain and hurt as well as love, abiding love. And it had a depth that nothing else I saw this year had. So, much as I loved Julie and Julia and Avatar and Inglorious Bastards, I think this had everything they had and more. It was at a completely different level. I think it was too bad only Stanley Tucci got nominated. Although it would be fair to call this an ensemble. Peter Jackson deserved a nomination.

And the setting/background, and special effects ( maybe the category was visual effects) deserved mention in nomination. Your dad just mentioned adapted screenplay as well. Mark Wahlberg was as good as I’ve ever seen him, lots of emotional depth and even a kind of beauty. Maybe even Susan Sarandon as best supporting actress.