Reading Watching, Listening..... January in Review

What I Was Reading in January
Getting it Right: Fresh Approaches to Teaching Grammar, Usage, and Correctness by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm and Michael W. Smith
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie
Atonement by Ian McEwan

I have to admit that I didn't get far in The Ground Beneath Her Feet. It was just too long and I was too out of time by our book club date. After that I decided to scrap the book since no one at book club liked it. At least not very much. I read Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Rushdie and found that much more to my liking. It was a fantasy story that reminded me, at times, of a Roald Dahl short story "Great Automatic Grammatizater" and of the Thursday Next stories by Jasper Fforde. I am enjoying Atonement though I find myself wanting to throttle the main character in part one. The Wilhelm grammar book is interesting and I'm finding good ideas to try with my students.

What I was Watching in December

On TV
Project Runway season 4
The New Adventures of Old Christine
Lost

Project Runway is one of the few reality shows I can stand. I have no favorite so far. I just tend to like certain designs more than others each week. FINALLY, The New Adventures of Old Christine is back on and I'm loving it. I just find Christine to be so darn funny. Julia Louis-Drefus's comic timing is terrific. And Lost. Oh my. I am in love with this show.

TV on DVD
Weeds Seasons 1, 2, 3
Prison Break Season 1
30 Rock Season 1
Heroes season 1

With the writers' strike still on, I found myself turning more and more to TV on DVD. I loved Prison Break, Thanks for the tip Sarah. 30 Rock was hilarious and I can't believe I've been missing it. Tina Fey is awesome. I've only seen one episode of Heroes but for someone so devoted to the superhero cause I can't believe I've been missing this. Weeds takes the cake, though, for my favorite TV on DVD program. I already blogged about it. I am sad I've already run out of episodes to watch.

On DVD
3:10 to Yuma (2007)
3:10 to Yuma (1957)
The Kingdom
The Nanny Diaries
Breach
Eastern Promises
Factory Girl
After the Wedding
Cinema Paradiso
Transformers
The Namesake

3:10 to Yuma (2007) was a terrific film and I had no real expectations. I am not a big fan of the western but this one was so well done. I loved the casting and the ending and the whole spirit of the film--the psychological drama of it. It spurred me on to watch the 1957 version of it and I found that one to be terrific too, of course it ended differently and I discovered there were a number of additions made to the 2007 version. In the end, I really couldn't argue with any of them. Sure, it was a bit more violent, but it was well crafted. A must see.

One of the reasons I chose to see The Kingdom was because Jennifer Garner was in it and watching her in the preview reminded me of Alias. However, she wasn't Sydney Bristow in this film and instead I watched a military drama that didn't offer a lot of entertainment value. I would have dismissed it entirely but for the final moments of the film that left me with the director's chilling message. One that was not unfamiliar to me, but demonstrated in such a well crafted way that the entire film became worthwhile for me in that instant.

I read the book The Nanny Diaries ages ago and found it to be depressing and I'm not sure why I thought I'd like the film any more. Instead it almost reminded me of that Dakota Fanning film "Uptown Girls. The special features on the DVDE were sort of fun to see since I learned a bit more about the perspective of the authors of the book and their experience as nannies in New York. Just as this film left me a bit, blah... so did Breach. And that one was a true story, but for some reason it lacked punch and the suspense and tension I wanted it to have. Transformers was a fun film that reminded me of my youth and a childhood toy. Suddenly I was remembering Autobots and Decepticons and Optimus Prime. I thought it was well done.

Eastern Promises was nominated for Academy Awards and Golden Globes which motivated me to see it. I didn't love the film but I did think that Viggo Mortenson does a great job. Certainly this was better for me than Viggo's other ultra-violent film "The History of Violence" and this one crosses the pond exploring the dark side of the Russian Mafia in London. That was new for me. I guess I do like mob films and this was no exception... I just felt that Viggo's acting was the thing that carried the film for me.

I never knew much about Edie Sedgwick, other than that she existed, until this film. I found it an intriguing and heartbreaking biopic about a girl who had her 15 minutes of fame and died tragically young. It portrayed Andy Warhol and possibly "Bob Dylan" as fairly callous men in her life who stood aside as this train wreck of a girl destroyed her life. I've been intrigued with Andy Warhol ever since I saw the PBS special on his life. This film was a bit of an extension of that for me. I thought Sienna Miller was great as Edie.

After the Wedding was an Oscar nominated foreign film from 2006 that I'd intended to see. I thought it was set in India and though it begins there, the majority of the action is set in Denmark. I found the film to be decent and interesting. It portrayed the tug of war between duty and desire for one man whose heart was with the orphaned children in India but was faced with a difficult decision that could keep him in Denmark through duty. This film was pretty good but nothing like Cinema Paradiso, which won the Academy Award for best foreign film in 1988. I loved Cinema Paradiso. I fell in love with Toto as he fell in love with films and I loved his relationship with Alfredo. In its directors' cut version it's a pretty long film, but I also thought it was a wonderful film.

The Namesake is based on a book by Jhumpa Lahiri. It reminded me of some of the tensions Amy Tan's characters face in her books. The film begins in India though most of the story takes place in New York. The film highlights tensions between old world and new world and that comes to a head when the Gangulis' son, Gogol grows up and changes his name. He is forced to come to terms with his reality of growing up American despite his parents whose lives are steeped in Indian tradition.

Holiday Films
Scrooged
White Christmas
It's a Wonderful Life
Family Man
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Of course Miracle on 34th Street and White Christmas were old favorites and I couldn't move past the holiday season without at least one viewing. Yet, this was my first encounter with It's a Wonderful Life. I liked it far better than I expected though I am not sure I agree with all the fuss and fanfare that film gets. I was trying to compare it with The Family Man starring Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni. I could see some similarities but in the end I just felt a bit depressed at the concept of missed chances and the idea of how one false move can forever impact a life. I guess the message I should have gotten was how it's never too late to start over or to embrace the life you have. Scrooged was just plain hilarious. I'm not much of a fan for the whole Dickens Christmas Carol story and its varied remakes or versions but Bill Murray is always terrific.

In Theatre
Juno
PS I Love You
Sweeney Todd
27 Dresses

Of these films Juno remains my favorite. I wanted to see Sweeney Todd ever since I saw Jersey Girl with Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler and his little girl wants to put on the musical. I knew what I was getting myself into but I didn't expect to find myself covering my eyes and gagging over the blood (comic or not) and the concept of baking people into the meat pies. It was just too much. Even now, I can barely type the words. P.S. I Love You and 27 Dresses were about equal in my mind. Both sweet, love films that are your typical romantic comedy and I found things to love in each of them, but neither of them knocked my socks off. I guess I'd say they were renters. And Sweeney Todd was masterfully done, but not for the weak-stomached girl like me. Juno is a film I will buy.


What I Was Listening to in January

Once Soundtrack and the Juno Soundtrack on IMEEM.
I always love soundtracks and the Juno one is filled with goodies. Some strange stuff, sure, but I did find the film's music to be a real asset in creating the proper mood. I particularly liked the actor's version of the Moldy Peaches song, "Anyone Else But You."

Once was such a good movie and a movie about music, no less. It makes sense to love the soundtrack too. I need to buy this one, I think.

a random sampling from my MP3 player
here are my posted shuffles:


Jan. 1

Another One Bites the Dust by Queen
Take This Waltz by Leonard Cohen
Fox on the Run by Sweet
Who Says You Can't Go Home by Bon Jovi
Turn on Me by The Shins



Jan. 10
Twice as Hard by The Black Crowes
Judy's Turn to Cry by Lesley Gore
Righteously by Lucinda Williams
Want Ads by Honey Cone
Situations by Jack Johnson


Jan. 27

Half Acre by Hem
Your Daddy Don't Know by Toronto
Stars are Blind by Paris Hilton
Fat Bottomed Girls by Queen
My Dear Country by Norah Jones