Books and Movies
This song was mentioned several times in the book, so I thought I would include it with my review:
A glimpse into the life of the "Weird" Watsons from Flint, Michigan. Told from the perspective of the 10 year-old son, Kenny. Kenny tells us his experiences of dealing with his delinquent bullying brother Byron and his rule following, kind-hearted sister Joetta (Joey). Kenny's parents are finally pushed to follow through with the threat to take Byron to stay with his strict grandmother in Birmingham, Alabama. The family takes a trip to the South with the families old car, "The Brown Bomber" and momma's notebook laying out their itinerary in detail. Once in Alabama the children are introduced to the sultry nights and oppressive heat of the day... and the oppressive hatred that is punctuated by a bombing at the Sunday School.
The first several chapters describing the family and the actions of Byron and his bullying were off putting. The author doesn't let Byron become a one dimensional character. The incident with the bird shows a sad, but redeeming quality in Bryron. The book hit its stride once the Weird Watson's hit the road. I have traveled enough with road trips with my family and seen that clinched jaw and wild eyed star on my husband to get connected with the family. The part where Byron says, "No cars, no cow, but I counted yo' momma six times already." Then Kenny replies, "That's your momma too, stupid!" makes me think of several conversations among my kids in the car and at the breakfast table. Byron's character at the end is fully redeemed by helping Kenny through the aftermath of the bombing. I like that the characters are all a shade of gray.
The epilogue was a great addition to the book and one of my favorite parts said, "They are the people who believe that as long as one person is being treated unfairly, we all are. These are our heroes, and they still walk among us today."
Definitely give this book a read. This would offer a wonderful springboard to a family discussion on Civil Rights, bullying, road trips, and life in different parts of the country.
:::::::::::Shrek Forever After
I took Eve to see Shrek on Thursday afternoon to keep a promise I made last month. The message of the movie, to appreciate your life, was a great. The alternate reality was hilarious. The interaction between Rumplestiltskin and the witches was a hoot. Donkey and Puss were their crazy, reluctant, side-kick selves. The site gags with Puss sliding down the ropes was too funny. We had a great time singing too.
Here is a great site for finding all of the songs in the movie in order of their appearance.
I have enjoyed all of the soundtracks from the Shrek movies. I have this image in my head that somehow I went to school with the folks selecting the music because I enjoy them all so much. I thought this new song was amazing "Darling I Do" by Landon Pigg and Lucy Schwartz:
I'm one of those folks that sits and reads the credits to films and this song by Maxine Nightingale that I fondly remember from the late 70's was fun to sing along:
::::::::::Robin Hood:::::::
Last week, my mom and I got to use our free movie tickets to see Robin Hood. Michael and Aaron had gone earlier in the day and gave it a positive review. I already like Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe, so I was game to go to see the film. This telling of the Robin Hood story was well done. Russell Crowe plays Robin Longstride who makes a promise to Robert Loxley's sword to his father to make amends for taking it and going to battle. Reluctlantly Robin agrees, but has to make a minor stop to return the crown of the dead king first. When Robin gets to Nottingham he is asked by Loxley's father to pretend to his dead son, so that his daughter-in-law, Marian, will not lose the family estate.
Cate Blanchett as Marian is a strong woman (I love strong woman characters)who defends her family and land against the smarmy Sheriff of Nottingham played by Matthew McFadyen (who was made not dreamy like he was as Mr. Darcy for this film), then the forces led by the evil Godfrey. Russell Crowe has the presences in each film that he is given a leadership role to pull it off convincingly. I loved him in Master and Commander and in Gladiator too.
The fight sequences are many, but suprisingly, not gory. The bloodiest part of the film is in the credits and is done in life action with a watercolor overlay. Totally funky effect to have the credits using the watercolor. This is a quintessentially cool date movie. It has action, drama, romance, history and a plot (some movies never get around to the plot part...or good actors...). The scenery is magnificent, as well. Check this one out.
One-Dimension in Three-Dimensions
Over the weekend our oldest two kids cajoled us into going to see James Cameron’s latest creation “Avatar”. I had planned on just passing this one over because the plot that I could work out from the trailers looked rather lame. I was convinced to go see it when several people that I trust informed me that the imagery in the film was nothing short of stunning and it would be worth my money to see it in the theatre. So here is a quick review of the movie.
Warning! There will be some spoilers.
First the good news:
As predicted the imagery was breathtaking. The CGI and the 3-D effects created a very believable and beautiful world. The variety of Pandoran landscapes and wildlife were so well done that it reminded me of a National Geographic Imax movie. Only on a few rare occasions did the graphics betray its CGI roots. This is clearly the crowning accomplishment of this movie. If for no other reason the movie is well worth the price of admission.
Now the bad news:
There really is no other reason to see this movie besides the graphics and the eye-candy I’ve already described.
The characters are profoundly one-dimensional, particularly the villains. Every preconception you make about every character turns out to be right on the money.
The plot has been recycled so many times that it is easily predictable. The story just seemed to drag along while you were waiting for the inevitable to occur. One friend of mine called it “Dances with Space Wolves”. The story follows a very similar structure. It’s hard to escape the parallel. The overdubbing, the journal entries, etc. It’s as if he just borrowed Costner’s storyboard for the first two hours of the movie.
Although I share their views, the heavy-handed environmental message was laughable in its rigid adherence to stereotype. The good guys were a bunch of self confessed tree-huggers looking for the life force of the forest and the bad guys were the mindless corporate drones driving fleets of bulldozers side by side in formation across the wilderness in order to meet a self imposed production deadline. Another friend of mine called the movie “a half billion dollar CGI remake of ‘Fern Gully’”.
I also had a hard time with the technological anachronisms in the movie. The humans had perfected near light-speed travel yet their military hardware was little more than Blackhawks with modified rotors. They had developed a way to clone human alien hybrids and transfer their thoughts from a “driver” to the hybrid, yet they still fought their battles hand to hand with flesh and blood soldiers in the field. Why? Even the bulldozers in the movie were remote controlled. So why risk the soldiers?
I really wish Cameron would hire a screenwriter for his next film. “The Abyss” was great. But ever since then he has been willing to sacrifice plot, dialogue, character definition and every other element that makes a movie great in exchange for magnificent images. Make no mistake; the images in “Avatar” are amazing. It just saddens me to see this much money spent on creating stunning three-dimensional images to tell a tired one-dimensional story.
Warning! There will be some spoilers.
First the good news:
As predicted the imagery was breathtaking. The CGI and the 3-D effects created a very believable and beautiful world. The variety of Pandoran landscapes and wildlife were so well done that it reminded me of a National Geographic Imax movie. Only on a few rare occasions did the graphics betray its CGI roots. This is clearly the crowning accomplishment of this movie. If for no other reason the movie is well worth the price of admission.
Now the bad news:
There really is no other reason to see this movie besides the graphics and the eye-candy I’ve already described.
The characters are profoundly one-dimensional, particularly the villains. Every preconception you make about every character turns out to be right on the money.
The plot has been recycled so many times that it is easily predictable. The story just seemed to drag along while you were waiting for the inevitable to occur. One friend of mine called it “Dances with Space Wolves”. The story follows a very similar structure. It’s hard to escape the parallel. The overdubbing, the journal entries, etc. It’s as if he just borrowed Costner’s storyboard for the first two hours of the movie.
Although I share their views, the heavy-handed environmental message was laughable in its rigid adherence to stereotype. The good guys were a bunch of self confessed tree-huggers looking for the life force of the forest and the bad guys were the mindless corporate drones driving fleets of bulldozers side by side in formation across the wilderness in order to meet a self imposed production deadline. Another friend of mine called the movie “a half billion dollar CGI remake of ‘Fern Gully’”.
I also had a hard time with the technological anachronisms in the movie. The humans had perfected near light-speed travel yet their military hardware was little more than Blackhawks with modified rotors. They had developed a way to clone human alien hybrids and transfer their thoughts from a “driver” to the hybrid, yet they still fought their battles hand to hand with flesh and blood soldiers in the field. Why? Even the bulldozers in the movie were remote controlled. So why risk the soldiers?
I really wish Cameron would hire a screenwriter for his next film. “The Abyss” was great. But ever since then he has been willing to sacrifice plot, dialogue, character definition and every other element that makes a movie great in exchange for magnificent images. Make no mistake; the images in “Avatar” are amazing. It just saddens me to see this much money spent on creating stunning three-dimensional images to tell a tired one-dimensional story.
Harry Potter! And other STUFF!
Harry potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out and I amm going to see it with Granny! Yay! Woo-HOO!Other than that I spent the week at Grannny Alice's house with Haley, My Mom, Noah, Eve, And Haleys's friend Kaitlin. We went to the farm snape kills dumbeldore and kaKaitlin drovwe the four-wheeler! And I found out that I like decaffenated sweet-tea. Nommers!
Also, I think I may just have found the perfect towel for Doctor Who to use for his hitchhiking travels in the Tardis! Time and relative demention in space! YYou know what I lkove about that name is that it doesn't leave out the ands. They are always left out. Like in U.S.A. It should be U.S.O.A. Right? Oh well. Buh-bye people of Earth and beyond!
Harry Potter! And other STUFF!
Harry potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out and I amm going to see it with Granny! Yay! Woo-HOO!Other than that I spent the week at Grannny Alice's house with Haley, My Mom, Noah, Eve, And Haleys's friend Kaitlin. We went to the farm snape kills dumbeldore and kaKaitlin drovwe the four-wheeler! And I found out that I like decaffenated sweet-tea. Nommers!
Also, I think I may just have found the perfect towel for Doctor Who to use for his hitchhiking travels in the Tardis! Time and relative demention in space! YYou know what I lkove about that name is that it doesn't leave out the ands. They are always left out. Like in U.S.A. It should be U.S.O.A. Right? Oh well. Buh-bye people of Earth and beyond!
Angels and Demons
As most of my readers will know, I really enjoy exploring issues of science, politics and religion. I particularly enjoy looking into where they overlap. Some of the best books I have read are on exactly this subject. Whether fiction or non-fiction I enjoy seeing how different characters balance these sometimes conflicting priorities in their lives.
With this in mind I was really apprehensive about Ron Howard’s film adaptation of Dan Brown’s book Angels and Demons. The book was very well done and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It seemed that each and every character in the book had a slightly different way of balancing science and religion in their lives. New details that were revealed in the process of the story unfolding forced these characters to have to reevaluate their decisions. How each of those characters responded to this problem was what gave depth and reality to the book. It was a very cerebral book.As many others have pointed out, Brown does take a very liberal interpretation of what he refers to as facts. As he did in The DaVinci Code and all of his books he frequently twists the facts a little to make the codes and mysteries in his story work. I don’t really have a problem with this as long as he doesn’t claim that those details are facts. Brown does claim that those details are facts and it gets the church and others outraged and just draws publicity to the book. I enjoyed his books as fiction and something to provoke thought and further research but they are fiction so I’m not going to get too hung up on those details.
Anyway, I was apprehensive about seeing the movie because I really was unimpressed with Howard’s interpretation of The Davinci Code. Now I’m not one of those who gets all upset just because every detail and nuance of a book that takes days to read isn’t spelled out in a two hour movie. I understand the differences and the strengths of both mediums and I enjoy them both. Although I typically enjoy reading the book better than the movie I have seen a few movie versions that I enjoyed even better than the books. Jurassic Park and Contact are the first two that come to mind.
I just thought that Howard left out far too much of Angels and Demons. The depth of each character in the book was defined by how they responded to their internal conflict regarding the balance of science and religion. The movie avoided this conflict completely with most characters and only hinted at it with one or two. Sure the chase through Rome to find the killer was a good action story but without the internal struggles of the main characters you didn’t understand or even care why the chase was important. One of the main characters in the book was a prominent scientist who you suspected may have even been the one behind the murders was left out of the movie all together. His internal struggle and ultimately his decision to assist the church was one of the more dramatic character conflicts in the book. I have no idea why he was wholesale written out of the movie as well as nearly all of the other character’s internal struggles.
In the movie and in the book you really grow to love one character who comes across very likable and reasonable. At the end of the book his positive attributes are rewarded. However in the movie adaptation this character does not get the same reward. I can see no reason at all to make this change in the movie. It would have cost no extra film time and would have been a nice way to reward a likable character.
I've seen a few book to movie conversions where I liked the movie much better. This just wasn't one of them. I wish I’d have waited for the DVD.
What’s Up
My love and hugs go out to my stepmother, Alice, who is in the hospital. I was able to speak with her and they aren't sure why her blood pressure is so low. I'm glad Katherine and Tracy are close by to check on her. Also, to my stepdad, Jim, with his tooth/jaw woes.:::::::Service Project
:::::::::::::More Strawberry Farm layouts::::
I've been reading books on critical thinking...Bologna (Baloney)Detectors, so to speak. I really enjoyed these books on the subject:
I like to think I'm getting a little farther along on the road to discerning the information I come in contact with each day.
::::::::::::::::The Movie Tavern---or Fun with my Mom::::
My mother took me out to the Movie Tavern in Tucker for my birthday. Neither of us had been there before. When you walk in you get in line and tell the cashier the movie and time, then order your meal. You are then given a number on a stand and go to your theatre and find a seat. Mom ordered chicken quesadillas and I got the turkey club wrap with side salad. The theatre was clean and the seats were comfy, but if you wear pantyhose and a skirt you may tend to feel like you are going to slide out onto the floor. At least, that is what my mom tells me. (I think pantyhose are products of Satan and his minions...this may run contrary to that whole critical thinking section preceding this review...but run with it.)
Right before the movie started we got our meal. We shared and agreed that both were delicious. So we give the Tavern's food and cleanliness high marks. The restroom was also clean and had those hand dryers that blow so hard that your skin ripples and dries your hands in 5 seconds. Those are the coolest!
Now to the movie. We chose to see "Wolverine". I'm glad the kids were not with us because it really isn't suitable for kids under 13. The chase scenes and explosions are expected, but some scenes are just too much for kids. Hugh Jackman is seen in his altogether (I would like to applaud Mr. Jackman for sticking to those rigourous workouts)but I don't think that is the best thing for kids to see. (The comparisons alone cover that). Kind folks are killed, so a big no for Rachel to see. She would be depressed the rest of the film. Overall, the film was what I expected. Not as cool as Star Trek, but still a cool action flick for the older crowd.
::::::::::::::::Court of Honor:::
I'm off to take Aaron to Court of Honor. He is going to help mow the grass in preparation for the evenings festivities. Then, we get to eat Mexican food. Michael, who is sick, will stay at home and make grilled cheese for the kids. Michael got sick from the nursery kids he watched for me when I went to In-gathering. He has finally passed it to Aaron and me, but Michael is much sicker. Well...I'm outta here.
Smiles
