Good Reads

A short time ago a web site was recommended to me called Goodreads.com. In this website you are allowed to form a network where you can recommend books to friends and they can recommend books to you. I thought this concept was excellent because I am often looking for a good book. When I find an author I like I have a tendency to read everything they’ve written, and when that list is exhausted I must begin the search for another good author. I was happy to have some help.

When I was a substitute teacher back in San Jose, I often taught in the same high school. Since it was convenient, I started checking out books from their school library. I would stroll down the aisles of the fiction section with my head tilted to the side, skimming the titles of various books till something caught my eye. They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but I was actually choosing them by their title. If something looked interesting, I would read the back of the book jacket, and then try my luck. I found some really good books that way.

Another time I was hired to clean and organize the prop room of a local college’s drama department. They had a collection of old books used to dress sets with, so I started taking them home one at a time. It was like having my own personal lending library. For some reason most of the books were written in the late forties, an interesting time for literature. The war caused authors to be a little more questioning, but the cynicism of the sixties hadn’t arrived yet? I read some really good books and got an insight into post war American culture.

When I first entered college and started getting exposed to finer literature. I was embarrassed by my lack of knowledge. I wasn’t ready to jump in with both feet, so I compromised and started reading novels that had been made into movies. One of the first books I read was Les Miserables. It still stands as one of my favorite books and encouraged me to read other classic novels. I also read To Kill A Mockingbird, which is one of my favorite all-time films. It is considered one of the best of the literary adaptations. Another favorite book I read was the Scarlett Pimpernel, like Les Miserables, there are plenty of cinematic adaptations to chose from. It was fun studying all the different versions.

After reading a few classical novels I drifted towards some more popular ones. I was amazed at how different a movie could be from the book. For example in the novel Planet Of The Apes, the astronauts were French. And in the movie Of Human Bondage, they left out big chunks of the book and entire characters. On the other hand, a little novel called The Ratman’s Notebook was so faithfully reproduced, it was like the book was written after the movie. The film was titled Willard and featured hundreds of rats. This was something that just had to be seen on film. The book couldn’t do it justice. I found this whole process of movie adaptations fascinating.

One of the most fun movie-book combinations I ever encountered was The Egg And I. The book was based on the true story of a woman whose husband quit his job and bought a chicken ranch in the Pacific Northwest. This city girl went along with the idea but found farm life a little bit too challenging. The book was hysterical and the film was so successful that it spawned an entire movie franchise based on the characters of Ma and Pa Kettle. What was amusing to me is that these characters were real people. After Hollywood got a hold of them, they turned them into a series of eight films. I always wondered how the real Ma and Pa Kettle felt about that.

Although I am an avid movie fan, I feel that it is important to read books as well. Some stories are just better enjoyed in print. But I also think it is a lot of fun to experience a story in both mediums. I loved Charlie And The Chocolate Factory as a book. I find Roald Dahl’s humor particularly delightful. But, I also loved the movies as well, both of them. It is interesting to see how a filmmaker is going to realize such bizarre material, especially in Fantasy or Science Fiction.

Sometimes you read a good book and can’t wait until someone makes it into a film. The book will be so vividly written that you can just picture it in your mind. When the book ends, you want to experience the story again, but this time you want to see it visualized as a film. I have never read any of the Harry Potter books, but I can perfectly understand the desire to see them as films. The images were so fantastical that the reader wanted to see how it could possibly be done. Sometimes a book has to wait a long time for technology to catch up.

When I moved to Los Angeles for the first time back in the late seventies they actually had a course at school called, Literature And The Motion Picture. I loved that class and read veraciously that year. But lately my reading habits have been slacking off, so that’s why I really appreciate this new website. A borrowed book is the cheapest form of entertainment and this summer we all need to watch our pennies. Besides, I hope this site will inspire me to read more this year and if I’m lucky, maybe I’ll find a good book that will make an even better motion picture. If so, I’ve already got my discount tickets.

The Proposal

“I knew it when we kissed”. This line was spoken by Ryan Reynolds in the film The Proposal and it sums up my attitude about romantic comedies. I don’t mind if the premiss is ridiculous, I don’t care if the characters are silly, I don’t even mind if there are a few cliches in the film, what it all comes down to is chemistry. When you look back on the best romantic comedies ever made, the stars had chemistry.

Romantic comedies by nature are ridiculous and this film is no exception. But what makes this movie work is the relationship between Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. They are forced to be in close proximity and you can see the awkwardness and discomfort in every move. But you could also see that this relationship was like a unlit match and gun power, one little spark and kaboom!

Another element about romantic comedies that is seldom discussed is the envy factor. Romantic comedies are made for single woman to live vicariously through. Men go along with them because they may benefit from the emotional fall out. If a girl gets carried away enough, he may get a little forward movement on his own situation or he may get a few ideas in the romance department.

To factor in the envy component romantic comedies must have good clothes, a dream house, a romantic location, or really cool friends. In this film, cool friends were substituted with a cool family, but the dream house exceeded expectations, the clothes were New York fashionable and the romantic location was rustic and elegant at the same time. I found myself tempted to move to Alaska.

Sandra Bullock was at her best here and Ryan Reynolds was an excellent foil. Even though there is an age difference of about 12 years, they made a very good looking couple and it was nice to see an older woman getting a younger man for a change. A nice addition to the envy component.

I’ve always enjoyed Sandra Bullock and I hope to see more of Ryan Reynolds. It was also fun to see Oscar Nunez have a chance to shine as Ramone. His exotic dancing is something to be seen, or averted. The rest of the cast is full of proven comedic favorites including Craig T. Nelson, Mary Steenburgen and Betty White, who is a National Treasure. The Proposal is an excellent addition to the genre and I recommend it.

Rating: First Run A worthy addition to the best romantic comedies

The Taking Of Phelam 123

About ten years ago I was the lead on duty and I was working with another young girl. She answered the telephone and turned to me with a look of horror on her face. The woman on the other end of the line said that there was a bomb on the roof. The young girl couldn’t get rid of the phone fast enough so I ended up with the receiver. I identified myself as the supervisor on duty and asked the woman how I may help her. The woman said that there was a bomb on the roof and we needed to get all the children out. She didn’t want to hurt the children.

I grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled on it, call security. Then I grabbed another sheet of paper and started taking notes. I was so super sensitive at the time that every word, phrase, and tone seemed to convey a meaning. I wrote down all my impressions and listened intently. Soon the room was full of security, police, and every manager in the area. There was so much confusion in that small room with people bumping into each other and asking questions. I tried to tune them out by keeping the phone on one ear and plugging the other one with my finger. The more hysterical the woman got on the other end, the more mistakes she started to make. I would ask her very clear, logical, questions and this would frustrate her even more. I wasn’t provoking her, I was just asking specific questions like when will the bomb go off? Since she wasn’t ready for all these questions she got frustrated and eventually hung up.

I had never had any specific training for bomb scares before that day, just a small piece of paper pinned to the wall that said, “What to do when someone says there’s a bomb”. I followed the protocol, asked the questions on the list, and tried to ignore all the chaos around me. It was a very intense phone call. When the woman hung up, I was pretty sure that she was a crack pot and I turned around to the sheriff and told him why I thought there was no bomb. He agreed with my assessment, everyone left, and we were expected to continue with our work day. I will never forget that experience.

When I saw The Taking Of Phelam 123 and there was that scene in the control room when the mayor and all the other suits showed up, it reminded me of the intensity that I felt many years ago when I got my phone call. I thought to myself, that Tony Scott sure got that one right, and I was really impressed with Denzel Washington’s portrayal. I was impressed with the progression of Denzel’s character and the multiple layers and range of emotion. His character was much more developed than John Travolta’s. I kept expecting to learn a few more things about him, but it never happened. I thought they where both excellent however, and the supporting cast was superb as well.

I found this movie to be a good, tight, study of what happens when people are under pressure. Whether it’s a police officer being asked to carry a fortune, an elected official trying to do the right thing, or a regular service employee trying to do his job. We never know when we wake up in the morning when we might be asked to do something heroic. Luckily in this story, Denzel Washington was up to the task.

Rating: First Run A tense thriller about an everyday hero

Year One

Some things never change. Since Year One, the tall, muscular, athletic guys have been getting all the girls, while the short, smart, funny ones have had to work twice as hard. This film made me think a lot of Darwin and his theories on natural selection. If a guy is not a strong hunter or provider, how does he get a woman to reproduce with him? The same way he does today. He charms her, or makes her laugh.

Year One follows the trials of Zed and Oh, Jack Black and Michael Cera. Zed is expelled from the village after eating a golden apple from the Tree of Knowledge. Angered by his act of disobedience and disgusted by his lack of hunting skills, Zed is forced out of his home by the alpha male, Marlak who is also Zed’s competition for the object of his affection, Maya. As Zed and Oh discover that there is a world beyond their land, they stumble across various Biblical characters until they reach the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorra.

I had high hopes for this movie in the beginning. It was funny hearing contemporary language coming from these primitive men. There was also some very clever lines and hilarious cameos. But as the film reached Gomorra, it bogged down quite a bit. It was like the writers said, “Okay, we’re a hour in now, let’s wrap everything up and finish this thing.” Some of the conclusions were ridiculous.

For the most part I liked this film. I found it very amusing. But I was disappointed when it started to fizzle out. So far Jack Black and Michael Cera only play variations of the same role, which is okay if the script is good and the chemistry is there. But this film did not maintain its charm to the very end. By the time the fart jokes showed up, I knew this film was running out of gas. If it could of held on to the quality laughs a little bit longer it could have been a great film, but it lost its momentum and started reaching for the cheap laughs. By then, this gal was looking around the room for a guy with a little more muscle. Charm can only take you so far.

Rating: Bargain Matinee Funny premise, some good laughs

Moon

When I was a senior in High School my father and I went on a father-daughter camping trip in Yosemite. After we set up our camp for the night we were looking for something to do, so my father pulled out his flashlight and a paperback book full of Science Fiction short stories. My father wrote his own curriculum and taught a course in Science Fiction at his High School. It was a way to engage students and get them to consider and discuss contemporary social issues. Like Star Trek and the Twilight Zone, the top Science Fiction writers of the time, disguised current social issues in the guise of aliens and far off planets so that we would be able examine these ideas without attaching our prejudices and pre-conceived notions. By the end of the camping trip I was hooked on these stories and read all three volumes in the collection.

It has been a long time since I’ve seen a good Science Fiction story that excited me like those days. But Duncan Jones has written a good one. I won’t ruin the effect by telling you much of the story except to say that Sam Rockwell plays a corporate astronaut near the end of his three year contract. He has been alone on the moon for quite some time and has begun to have hallucinations.

Like the Science Fiction stories of the Sixties and Seventies, this film covers many relevant issues facing us today. Sam Rockwell is outstanding playing the lonely, confused astronaut. He must carry the entire film and he is totally up for the task. Kevin Spacey is the voice of the robot Gerty, Sam’s only companion. His vocal quality is reminiscent of Hal in 2001.

I really liked this film and I look forward to enjoying future projects by young Duncan Jones. Like his father David Bowie, his work is thought-provoking and extremely interesting. An excellent job all around.

Rating: First Run Sam Rockwell examines the question, is man meant to be alone?

Easy Virtue

What do you call a comedy of manners when no one knows how to behave? The answer is a Noel Coward play. Easy Virtue is based on the Noel Coward play of the same name. Very shocking in the twenties, this film seems a little tame by today’s standards. A young English aristocrat falls in love with a racy older woman. When he marries her and brings her home to his English manor, the new bride and her mother-in-law begin a battle from the boy’s love and attention.

The bride played by Jessica Biel is not interested in the manor house and wants them to live together in London. The mother however, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, has been waiting for her son to grow old enough to step up and take over the mansion. She has been running the estate by herself ever since the war because her husband has no interest and broods all the time. John, the son, played by Ben Barnes is being pulled in two directions. On one hand he has a beautiful, adventurous, American wife, and on the other hand he has a strong sense of duty. He is seriously caught in the middle.

Colin Firth portrays the lethargic husband who was the sole survivor of his unit in WWI. He disappeared for a time, but now home, has no interest in managing a large estate. He tinkers on his motorcycle and has no involvement in any household duties whatsoever. When his son’s young wife appears though, his melancholy finally lifts and he becomes Larita’s strongest ally. John’s sisters begin as supporters, but as the stress of close proximity and jealousy creep in, they soon join forces with their mother.

This film seems to lose some of the crispness that you would find in a theatrical version, but I liked the fact that they inserted a lot of Noel Coward’s music. Noel Coward was a songwriter as well as a playwright and his music really added to the period details. I loved the costumes and the period touches were really nice, but as a shocking social commentary, it’s a little out-dated.

Rating: Rent It A tour of the twenties with fox hunts, balls, and Noel Coward wit

Cliente (A French Gigolo)

There are some things you can’t control in life and love just happens to be one of them. Cliente tells the story of Judith played by Nathalie Baye, who is rich, successful, but bitter, after a divorce. Not wanting to be disappointed again, she decides to compartmentalize her love life and starts hiring male escorts to satisfy her physical needs. With this arrangement she can control everything, including time, location, and even the activities. She is very satisfied with this arrangement.

Eric Caravaca plays a young married man who can’t stand the stress that money is causing in his life. He hates living with his in-laws and he doesn’t want his wife to lose her Beauty Saloon. So, without his wife’s knowledge, he begins prostituting himself when his unemployment runs out. He becomes a high-class gigolo and quickly becomes Judith’s favorite. Soon a relationship begins.

Nathalie Baye gives a wonderful performance in this film, powerful, controlling, yet very vulnerable. Josiane Balasko is also a lot of fun as Judith’s best friend and sister. Her own romantic woes provide some very nice comic relief.

We’ve seen this type of story before from the male perspective. It was interesting to have the table’s turned. Eric Caravaca may be no Pretty Women, but he’s someone you’d like to spend time with, and you’ll really enjoy the strong female roles.

In French with English subtitles

Rating: First Run A gigolo story with a twist