Mars Attacks

I want the people to know that they still have 2 out of 3 branches of the government working for them, and that ain't bad.

Can you imagine what would happen if Martians incinerated our congress and presidential family? I'll let you think that one over…

Tim Burton is a genius (ok, Planet of the Apes was embarrassingly horrible, but everyone is entitled to a mistake) and the casting of Mars Attacks couldn’t be more perfect. Adam Short channels George Stephanopoulos with super smarmy perfection, Glenn Close and Jack Nicholson make a nice Ron and Nancy Reagan, and the Martians have something vaguely familiar about them – could it be Beavis and Butthead?

Bring on the Martians!

Melinda and Melinda

Greg: What do you do for exercise?
Hobie: Tiddly winks. And an occasional anxiety attack.

If you’re a die-hard fan Woody Allen fan, Melinda and Melinda probably rates somewhere in the middle of his filmography in term of captivating storyline and interesting characters. While I typically prefer Allen’s films which feature his acting, Will Ferrell does a pretty funny impersonation of the master of neuroticism and he’s a bit more believable as a romantic partner to Amanda Peet’s character. Radha Mitchell does nice work playing the two Melindas – dysfunctionally depressed and positively perky. The Melinda tragedy brings to mind Purple Rose of Cairo in its sharp pain and betrayal and the Melinda comedy is reminiscent of Allen’s other films featuring husband and wives in various stages of decline and rebuilding. A glance at IMDB shows that Woody is now 72, hopefully he’ll continue working his silver screen genius for several years to come. La-di-da, la-di-da, la la.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

by J. K. Rowling and Mary GrandPré

Yes, I dare. I know things that you don't know...I know lots of important things that you don't. Want to hear some before you make another big mistake?

Oh good lord, what can I even say about this final Harry Potter book that hasn’t already been said a hundred times already? If you haven’t read the books, chances are you don’t really care, and if you have read the books, then chances are that you do care and you’re going to read this regardless of what anyone says. I will admit that Deathly Hallows did make me a bit sad, a bit wistful –this has nothing to do with the plot itself, just the fact that these characters, which we have grown to know so well, are now departing. Just as high school graduation is a terminus for many friendships in the real world, so it is to in the world of Hogwarts. The only difference is that in Rowling’s world (or in this case, Harry’s) all secrets are revealed and the questions that have plagued readers for the last 10+ years are finally answered. I just wish I could get my hands on some of that magic…

Of course it is happening inside your head… but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?

Rang De Basanti: A Generation Awakens

Rang De Basanti is my first foray into the world of Bollywood films. I’ll admit that I was unwillingly dragged into this as singing and dancing in films gives me the heebee-geebees (terrifying flashbacks of Oklahoma! Brigadoon! Fiddler on the Roof! ) but this film has changed my mind – somewhat.

The musical numbers are less like Broadway and more like MTV – albeit in a slightly cheesy, 1980s way. Surprisingly, I really liked the music – a nice blend of Asian-Euro pop and dance – so I suffered through the dancing and affiliated theatrics.

However, the plot of this movie has left me questioning the intent of the director. The story centers on a young Brit (Alice Patten) who travels to India to shoot a film about a group of young Indian revolutionaries from the 1920s. The young students who are brought on to play the parts are a fairly apathetic lot – looking only for fun, fast cars, and drinking beer. However, as they begin to internalize the lives and motives of their assigned characters, their attitudes and beliefs are affected, and when a close friend in the Indian Air Force is killed due to government negligence and corruption, the group makes some very violent and irrevocable decisions.

My hope is that director Rakesh Omprakash Mehra wanted this film to spark a discussion about violent versus non-violent approaches when faced with oppressive and immoral governments. However, a more literal interpretation of Rang De Basanti could result in the glamorization of violent means to wake the population from its lethargy. While some would argue that drastic measures are the only method that captures attention, I’m of the opinion that “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” leaves us all blind and toothless. Regardless of where your revolutionary tendencies lie, this is certainly a thought-provoking film and with a cast of capable and authentic actors.

The Departed

Who the fuck are you?
I'm the guy who does his job. You must be the other guy.

Wow! This has got to be one of the best films I’ve seen in awhile – superb acting, nail-biting tension, complex characters, super sharp dialog, and south Boston accents so thick the rest of the country needs subtitles. Every character in The Departed is thoroughly steeped in the world of lies and deception, but Matt Damon's Colin Sullivan and Leonardo DiCaprio's Billy Costigan perfectly illuminate the psychological damage and behaviors associated with living a dual, and deathly secret, life. DiCaprio creates empathy for Costigan as the young man whose schizophrenic upbringing shuttling between housing projects and elite boarding schools allows him to authentically navigate the Southie underworld whereas Damon creates disdain for Sullivan as the duplicitous cop whose has risen through the ranks as a result of his mob connections. Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg have some of the best, obscenity-infused lines this side of The Sopranos. Only drawback to The Departed – the freakin' bagpipe music – enough of that already….

Admissions

I was looking for a quick, fluffy read to devour before Harry Potter arrived and Admissions by Nancy Lieberman fit the bill quite nicely. I guess this is considered part of the "mommy-lit" (as opposed to "chick-lit") genre as the majority of characters are late-30s well-heeled Manhattan-ites frantically negotiating the roller coaster ride of private high school admissions. In this world anticipation isn't about being seen in the right places with the beautiful people, but instead about receiving a phone call or an email from an aloof and/or toad-like admissions officer. Yeah, it sounds about as enjoyable as visiting the Whole Foods in White Plains on a Saturday morning, but it's actually rather entertaining and realistic without being overblown.

Headmistress Pamela Rothschild isn't quite as evil as Miranda Priestly (the Queen B from The Devil Wears Prada) but more than a bit buffoonish and unbelievable. The children in the story are well drawn – particularly Julian , the budding fashion designer whose father wants to send him to "Manover Academy" to "straighten him out," and Zoe, who grapples with issues of race and economic advantage as she tries to decide which type of school she most belongs in. Ideal for the beach, the morning commute, or while waiting for your delayed flight to wherever.

Rock and Roll High School + 24 Hour Party People

Did they have tickets for the Sermon on the Mount? Of course they didn't, people just turned up because they knew it would be a great gig.

Featuring some of the best songs by the legendary US punk bank, The Ramones, Rock and Roll High School is a cult classical for all the obvious reasons – the acting is generally bad, the dialog horribly clichéd, the gags juvenile, and the wardrobes downright horrific (P.J. Soles as Riff Randell looks like an escapee from a Jane Fonda exercise video)…but Rock and Roll High School is really all about The Ramones, and with half the film devotes to “live” performances (with terrible tracking) you’ll get to hear all your favorites. And is there anyone else who thinks that Parker Posey resembles Mary Woronov (and is it intentional?)

For those of us who also remember the “Manchester sound” of the late 80s and early 90s, 24 Hour Party People transports us back to 1976, reminds us of the Sex Pistols, and then introduces us to the band that would be known as Joy Division. It’s a heady start to a film that centers on the larger and crazier than real life world of Brit TV personality, music promoter, and Factory Records founder Tony Wilson. Sean Harris is chillingly accurate as the late Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis and Steve Coogan is simultaneously funny, annoying, intellectually deep, and socially shallow as the effervescent Tony Wilson. The film becomes slightly derailed as the dawn of rave culture begins and IMHO a bit too much significance is granted to the highly dysfunctional drug addicted Happy Mondays (does anyone care any more?). But, if you like Joy Division and New Order, 24 Hour Party People will have digging out that old 12 inch of "Blue Monday" and remembering the days of auld lang syne...

Unbreakable + Signs

I loved Lady in the Water and The Sixth Sense, but had been warned by IMDB about the spotty “in between” offerings by M. Night Shyamalan. After viewing both I agree that Unbreakable is a waste of time. A more appropriate title would have been Unbelievable as that’s how the characters and plot develop. Bruce Willis is…well…a typical Bruce Willis character – a gruff and ruff guy who takes on a somewhat unbelievable task. Samuel Jackson’s character starts out interesting and slightly freaky but gradually degenerates into something…unbelievable (unbelievably stupid is more like it).

Signs, on the other hand, is somewhat suspenseful and even though I’m not a big Mel Gibson fan, he gives a decent performance as a reverend whose lost faith is returned as his community (nay, the world in total) is attacked by aliens from outer space. There are a few super cheesy LOL moments involving the aliens – let’s just say it might have been better for M. Night to refrain from using full body shots. Listen to the professional reviewers and stick with the better films.

Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq

Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq 8/2003 – 9/2004
By Riverbend

I’m kicking myself for being behind the curve on Riverbend as I wish I had been able to read the Baghdad Burning blog “live” as events were unfolding in 2003 as opposed to years after the fact. So, for the other folks who have been living under the rock with me, go out and get this book now – and while you’re at it, check out http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/.

Riverbend provides a moving, thoughtful, and at times mundane accounting of everyday existence in Baghdad. This includes losing her computer programming job (because she is a woman), surviving with sporadic electricity and phone connection (yes, she was blogging with a dial-up), and living with the constant fear of assassination, abduction, and/or imprisonment of herself, her family, and her friends. One of the most emotionally tragic entries describes, in simple, loving details, the importance and beauty of date trees in Iraq – and the results, both emotional and psychological, of the seemingly trivial destruction of thousands of these revered trees by coalition forces.

What would you do if a foreign soldier came onto your property without just cause and cut down the ancient oak/pine/maple/birch tree in your yard? Offer sincere thanks and a cold drink?

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
by Malcolm Gladwell

Gladwell’s second book is a relatively quick read with lots of food for thought. Some of my favorite highlights include:

1) We’ve all been here before, haven’t we?
“The Four Horsemen of Ruinous Relationships: defensiveness, stonewalling, criticism, and contempt. With contempt being the true death knell. If you can measure the contempt level in a relationship you don’t need to know other details – you’re pretty much done.” (agreed)

2) Because snooping (a-hem, “research”) is a necessary evil.
“You can learn as much – or more – from one glance at a private space as you can from hours of exposure to the public space.” Damn! If only job interviews involved private time in your future boss’s office and/or home – you’d know exactly what you were getting yourself before you accepted that “fantastic” opportunity.

3) You mean I like furniture better than beer?
Visit www.implicit.harvard.edu for the home of the IAT. Participate in research which shows that our unconscious attitudes may be utterly incompatible with our stated conscious values.

4) Easier said than done, Malcolm…
“When we talk about analytic versus intuitive decision making, neither is good or bad. What is bad is if you use either of them in an inappropriate circumstance.” This is why those Myers-Briggs consultants are in demand. You trying telling those NTs that their analytic, rational decision making process is inappropriate. See what that gets you…

Raising Helen

“I'm a sexy man of God, and I know it.”*

Raising Helen is a cute, fluffy kind of New York City movie featuring lots of great clothes and pretty, skinny women in high heels - and three kids from New Jersey whose parents have just died and are shipped off to the big city to live with their young, hipster Aunt (Kate Hudson). The end result is a combination of heart-wrenching drama with plaintive cries of "I miss my Mommy!" (sniff sniff) with slap-dash comedy as Auntie transitions from fashion model agent to used car saleswoman - and meets up with an exceptionally randy Pastor Dan* (played by John Corbett with a rather un-sexy resemblance to Three’s Company-era John Ritter).

Despite the fact that 95% of the film is totally unbelievable (and unremarkable) there are a few genuine laugh-out-loud moments provided by Joan Cusack as the hilariously frightening, mini-van driving, potpourri-loving, "Super Mom" middle sister.

Best thing about Raising Helen: no sign of Meg Ryan.

The Poe Shadow

I really enjoyed Matthew Pearle’s The Dante Club so I eagerly approached his sophomore offering, The Poe Shadow. Whereas Dante focused on Longfellow and the other Harvard scholars who were involved in translating Dante’s Inferno, The Poe Shadow delves into the mystery of Edgar Allen Poe’s death in Baltimore. The protagonist, Quentin Clark, is a young, slightly excitable lawyer who rejects his previous life of comfort and social standing to embark upon a multi-year quest to unearth the secrets surrounding Poe’s final days.

Matthew Pearl uses his literary research skills to infuse his work of fiction with historical authenticity and continuity. It was this ability to seamlessly blend fiction and non-fiction that made me such an admirer of The Dante Club. However, The Poe Shadow never succeeds in capturing the excitement and intrigue that marked Dante. Clark is a bit too naïve and impressionable a character and while his commitment to solving the mystery of Poe’s demise is clear, he comes off as a bit of an anguished dilettante. It isn’t any great shocker when in the end he realizes that his years of work have yielded few answers, many additional questions, and fueled the coffers of several charlatans and carpet-baggers looking to make a name for themselves. Gee - it sounds like academia...

“…to guess is one of the most elevated and indestructible powers of the human mind, a far more interesting art than reasoning or demonstration because it comes to us directly from imagination.”

Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party

Ack! I’m totally traumatized. What on earth happened to Perry Farrell? OK, I realize he’s almost 50 but this Ray Davies-meets-Bryan Ferry-meets-the wardrobe assistant from Purple Rain-look is just too much. Maybe he’s been morphing into this for some time and I didn’t notice… It would be less embarrassing if he was still sporting the braids and SoCal surfer thing (like Keith Morris of the Circle Jerks – who’s older but still manages to keep it real). The personal styling is bad and the music on Ultra Payloaded isn’t much better. "Insanity Rains" sounds like a band trying to sound like Jane’s Addiction (and reviewers are heralding this song??!!) and the version of "The Solutionists" is vastly inferior to the identical "Revolution Solution" on Thievery Corporations’ Cosmic Game (which is not the best T.C. offering, but certainly better than anything Satellite Party is cooking up…) . Despite all the negatives, I do like "Wish Upon a DogStar" which leads off the album – but a penchant for slick production and heavy bass lines has been a character fault for a long time now…

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead

A great title, but the jury’s out on this one. Clive Owen is very good as Will Graham – brooding, dark, and sexy as all hell (before and after the hair cut and shave). But this “film noir” leaves too many unanswered questions. We get the dark alleys, the twists and the turns, but not enough insight into the back-story or future directions. Even the relationships between characters is left vague – is Charlotte Rampling’s Helen the wife, sister, mother, or friend to Will and his recently deceased brother, Davey? A bit more definition would have made this considerably more enjoyable.

Dead Boys: Live at CBGB 1977

It’s been awhile since I’ve splashed in the fountain of 70s punk rock, but thanks to Netflix, I had an opportunity to sample the legendary Dead Boys – Live at CBGBs! 1977! I’ll admit that I never made to CBGBs – ever - and in 1977 I was 9. By the time I discovered the Dead Boys, Stiv Bators was in Paris (but not yet dead) and Cheetah Chrome was living in Boston trying to get gigs at the Rat in Kenmore Square (drug addicted loser). Regardless, this DVD is a great piece of musical history. The footage and sound are amazing and at 28 minutes it’s just one song after another with all the between-song tuning and whatnot edited out. Stiv is so great – clearly paying homage to Iggy and the Stooges but with some nice, personal touches (like blowing his nose into a piece of sandwich meat and eating it). Sonic Reducer and Search & Destroy are two of the best songs to come out of US punk scene and they’re done with rip-roaring intensity here (except that no one goes for the high notes on Sonic Reducer, no surprise there though).

The extras on the DVD include a very interesting performance by Steel Tips – kind of a punk/atonal noise/performance art ensemble. Worth investigating.

I wonder what all those kids at the show are doing now. Probably a bunch of soccer moms and lawn-moving dads renting punk rock documentaries through Netflix…

Mean Creek

Closing off my recent bout of violence voyeurism is Mean Creek and it is clearly the superior choice to the previous two reviews.

Do you remember your lurid school-age fantasies about the cruel and embarrassing come-uppance of the classroom bully (boy and/or girl)? Mean Creek takes a very realistic approach to a topic that everyone, regardless of generation or location, can relate to and remember (except perhaps, if you spent your childhood being home-schooled on a deserted island). The acting and script is spot on – the kids behave like real kids, the dialog is realistic, and it seems like the writer actually knew something about adolescent psychology.

George, played by Josh Peck, is truly screwed up and obnoxious. He’s a big fat kid with a big fat mouth and attitude to match. It’s also pretty clear that he has some major psychological issues but he never exhibits a minimum level of humanity to anyone that would lead to empathizing with his condition. Simply put: it’s easy not to like him. Rory Culkin is Sam, the small skinny kid who gets the piss beat out of him by George. Sam’s revenge fantasy is taken up by his older brother’s group of friends and a plan is hatched is teach George a lesson. True to Robert Burns, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry” and everyone involved starts to make some very foolish choices. Definitely worth a watch.

The United States of Leland

I think there are two ways you can see the world. You either see the sadness that's behind everything or you choose to keep it all out.

I unwittingly followed the reading of The Taste of a Man with watching The United States of Leland. What a great combination for inducing mild depression… Like Man, Matthew Ryan Hoge’s Leland illustrates the everyday grim lives of five reasonably well off teenagers and their normally abnormal families. Absent fathers, controlling mothers, alcoholism, drug addiction, and various forms of escapism and passive aggression ripple beneath every scene. The violent behavior that each character engages in is all so unsettlingly familiar and commonplace – which makes you realize how dysfunctional we’ve become as a society. In some ways Leland’s form of destruction is the most humane and empathetic, while the exploitation (under the guise of therapeutic counseling) by Pearl, rivals the black hole of apathy exhibited by Leland’s father for most loathsome character. Ryan Gosling is haunting in the role of Leland – his slow and dreamy cadence initially comes across as disengaged but later reveals a depth of thought and emotion that is heartbreaking.

The Taste of a Man

By Slavenka Drakulic

“…before leaving I had to decide what to do with two black-and-white enlarged photographs of Jose. I hesitated to destroy them, because they were all I had left of my lover.”

In 212 pages Drakulic takes us on a three month odyssey through the most intimate thoughts of Tereza, a foreign graduate student on a fellowship in New York City, about her relationship with her married lover, and fellow foreign student, Jose. Together the two create a bond of almost inescapable psychological proportions - cemented in food, drink, sex, and their respective limitations with the English language. This detailed portrait of obsession and isolation is painted in such a way that the reader can almost empathize with Tereza’s quest to possess Jose. Tereza justifies her actions so calmly and logically that you never doubt her sanity – even when she brings Jose’s decomposing, frozen head to the airport and kisses his rotting lips before dumping it in a trash can. Sorry for the mini-spoiler, but this is insanity at its finest.

Dying Young

Dying Young is a prime example of late 80s/early 90s drama.

Every scene is emotionally charged, every character is fraught with underlying, but far from hidden, pain and confusion, and every musical selection sounds like Kenny G. It’s not a bad film, far from it, but it does require a bit of suspended reality (as when Campbell Scott’s hair grown back almost immediately after his chemotherapy treatments). Julia Roberts looks lovely – so natural and feminine – unlike her current overly trimmed and narrow physique. Considering the high drama of the script, the acting is quite good and there are even a few scenes that are quite sad – but in true fairy tale fashion, they aren’t the final one.

The Geographer's Library

by Jon Fasman

I really wanted to love this book - but after finishing it I'm left with the comparison of going on a date with a person who you believe is going to be truly amazing but in the end, doesn’t quite make the grade.

To start with the positives, the short vignettes about alchemical instruments and their histories were super entertaining and left me wanting to know more. The characters, main and supporting, were generally very well defined - stereotypically or not. The central character, Paul Tomm, is an earnest, 23 year old Ivy League grad who is more than occasionally irritating in that 23 year old earnest Ivy League graduate way.

Half way through my "date" in the Geographer's Library, the plot lost steam and both author and reader find themselves rushing to get everything over and done with as quickly as possible. That such promise should be so unsatisfying was a great disappointment.

Much of the story's action is centered in Providence, RI at Brown University. But instead of referring to places as they truly exist, the author engaged in the highly disconcerting practice of "lightly" swapping names (e.g., Brown is referred to as Wickenden - which in the real world is a well known street right near Brown; Federal Hill became Carroll Hill) This wouldn't pose a problem to readers unfamiliar with the area, but for those of us who know it, mixing familiar with familiar to create something *new* (like we're not going to be able to figure it out?) is just plain irritating.